UTTLE 
ALMOND 


JULIET 
KNOX 


University  of  California  •  Berkeley 


.*/- 


LITTLE  ALMOND 
BLOSSOMS 


A  Little  Almond  Blossom 


LITTLE 
ALMOND    BLOSSOMS 

A  Book  of  Chinese  Stories 
for  Children 

BY 

JESSIE  JULIET  KNOX 


With  Illustrations  from  Photographs  of  Chinese  Children 
in  California 


BOSTON 

LITTLE,  BROWN,  AND   COMPANY 
1907 


Copyright, 
BY  LITTLE,  BROWN,  AND  COMPANY. 


All  rights  reserved 
Published  October,  1904 


Printers 
8.  J.  PAKKHILL  &  Co.,  BOSTON,  U.  8.  A. 


This  Book  is  lovingly  Dedicated 

to 
MY  MOTHER 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

In  the  Land  of  the  Dragon       ....        3 

Two  Little  Chinese  Sisters 15 

The  Little  Highbinder  .  ^.  ....  27 
How  Ah  Chee  found  Santa  Claus  .  .  39 

The  Moon  Rabbit 65 

How  Santa  Claus  came  to  Suey  Hip  £•>«;  93 
The  Easter  Dream  of  Mun  Chee  .  ~  .  .109 
Ping  Pong  and  Ping  Yet  '.'  .  ...  .  131 
The  Little  Almond  Blossom  .  ~V  *  .  153 
The  Christmas  of  Gum  Ching  .  .  .163 
Ho  Chin's  Fourth  of  July  f"~V  .  .  .173 
The  Little  Fisher-Maiden  ^r~ ...  .  189 
The  Finding  of  Sing  Ho  i  .  -  V  .  207 
The  Slave-Girl's  Thanksgiving  .  .  .233 


LIST   OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

A  Little  Almond  Blossom Frontispiece 

"  Oh,  what  a  dreadful  monster  ".....       5 
"  The   Chinese    children    all    marched    to    the 

music  in   a   row " 7 

"  Everybody  giggled  all  the  time,  in  their  funny 

little  Chinese  way  " 9 

"  She  brought  forth  from  the   flute  the  most 

wonderful  sounds" 17 

"  It  was  the  old  nurse,  Suey  " 22 

" c  Where  are  you  going,  little  one  ? '       ...  50 

"Little  Priest" 65 

"  She  and  one  of  her  sisters  were  on  the  step 

in  front  of  their  home"    .     .     .     .     .     *  67 

"  Suey  Hip  was  very  much  dressed  up  "      .     .  99 
"  She  sometimes  longed  to  get  out,  she  and  her 

two  little  brothers "       .     .   •  ...   .    v     .     .109 

"There  was  a  big  bouquet  for  Ping  Pong"       .  147 

"Through  the  narrow  streets"      .     .     .     .,    .  177 
"  Two  of  his  little  friends,  with  their  queer  little 

Chinese  caps  on "     .     .     .     .     .     »     .     .  208 

"  His  own  beautiful  mo  chun"  .     .     »     .     «     •  227 


IN  THE  LAND   OF  THE   DRAGON 


Little  Almond 
Blossoms 

IN  THE  LAND 
OF  THE   DRAGON 

CHUNG  GOY  ran  as  fast  as 
his  little  sandals  would  per- 
mit, up  the  narrow  flight  of 
steps  which  led  to  the  Chinese  res- 
taurant, and  out  on  the  balcony, 
where  a  crowd  of  Chinamen  were 
watching  for  the  great  Procession 
of  the  Dragon.  His  little  legs  were 
encased  in  pale  green  silk  trousers 
tied  at  the  ankles,  and  his  lavender 
shorn  (blouse)  gleamed  in  the  light 
of  the  many  dragon  lanterns  which 
were  swaying  in  the  night  breeze. 

3 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

His  hair  was  in  a  long  queue,  and 
on  his  head  he  wore  the  little  round 
black  cap  of  the  Chinese,  with  a 
button  on  top. 

Chung  Goy  was  so  afraid  he  would 
miss  seeing  the  dragon.  He  had 
never  seen  it  as  yet,  for  he  was  not 
so  very  old,  and  now  that  the  long- 
expected  moment  had  come  he  fairly 
trembled  with  excitement. 

His  ho  chun  (father)  was  on  this 
balcony,  which  was  near  their  home, 
and  he  hurried  to  nestle  up  to  him, 
as  it  was  cold,  and  the  wind  was  al- 
ways blowing  in  San  Francisco. 

It  seemed  as  if  the  procession 
would  never  come;  he  grew  tired 
watching  so  many  people  pass,  and 
perhaps  the  fumes  of  the  opium  his 
father  was  smoking  got  into  his  brain; 
but,  at  any  rate,  the  first  thing  he 

4 


In  the  Land  of  the  Dragon 

knew  he  saw  a  great  squirming  thing 
approaching  him. 

It  was  spitting  fire  from  its  eyes 
and  mouth,  and  at  first  he  felt 
afraid.  Oh,  what  a  dreadful  mon- 
ster !  it  would  surely  devour  him. 
He  heard  himself  saying:  "Velly  bad 
snake  —  I  no  likee;  go  'way!  I 
'flaid."  And  then  he  heard  a  voice 
like  the  muttering  of  thunder,  and 
the  voice  came  out  of  the  dragon's 
mouth,  and  it  was  saying  in  the 
Chinese  language:  "Samenjai  (little 
boy),  I  have  come  to  take  you  to 
Dragon  Land.  Slip  away  from  ho 
chun,  and  fly  with  me." 

"  Oh,  no  ! "  gasped  the  trembling 
boy,  "  I  velly  much  'flaid  the  big 
dlagon  eat  me  up."  And  then  the 
dragon  spoke  again,  but  this  time 
his  voice  was  as  soft  and  sweet  as 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

music,  and  the  fire  no  longer  came 
from  his  eyes  and  mouth.  He  had 
such  a  kind  look  on  his  face  too,  and 
spoke  in  such  a  persuasive  tone,  that 
little  Chung  Goy  ceased  to  be  afraid, 
and  slipping  from  his  father's  arms  he 
ran  down  the  narrow  steps  again,  and 
out  into  the  street,  climbing  up  on 
the  big  dragon's  back.  He  saw  lots 
of  other  Chinese  boys  he  knew,  doing 
the  same  thing.  He  held  on  tightly, 
for  the  dragon  went  in  such  a  squirm- 
ing way  that  he  was  afraid  he  would 
fall  off,  and  he  held  on  to  his  little 
silk  cap,  too,  as  the  dragon's  speed 
increased,  for  it  was  his  best  one,  and 
he  did  not  want  to  lose  it. 

Oh,  this  was  jolly!  He  had  never 
thought  he  would  ever  ride  on  a 
dragon's  back.  What  a  lot  he  would 
have  to  tell  his  mo  chun  (mother) 

6 


The  Chinese  children  all  marched  to  the  music  in  a  row 


In  the  Land  of  the  Dragon 

when  he  reached  home.  It  was  a 
good  thing  mo  chun  did  not  know  it 
now,  he  thought,  or  she  would  be 
"velly  much  'flaid." 

After  squirming  through  all  sorts 
of  queer  countries,  the  big  dragon 
stopped  so  suddenly  that  they  all  fell 
off  his  back,  and  down  his  slippery 
sides.  Chung  Goy  rubbed  his  eyes 
and  looked  around  him.  Oh,  how 
funny!  There  were  just  thousands 
of  dragons  of  all  sizes,  and  this  beau- 
tiful place  was  their  home.  They  all 
had  such  kind  faces,  and  spoke  in 
such  a  gentle  way,  that  no  one  could 
feel  afraid.  There  were  great  groves 
of  trees,  all  full  of  the  tiny  Chinese 
mandarin  orange.  Chung  Goy  just 
loved  those  "ollanges,"  but  he  had 
never  before  picked  them  from 
a  tree,  as  his  ho  chun  had  bought 

7 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

them  from  the  street-stands  in  China- 
town. There  were  trees  of  lichee 
(nuts),  and  long  tables  just  filled  with 
Chinese  candy,  delicious  preserved 
ginger,  watermelon  seed,  and  all 
those  good  things  so  dear  to  a  boy's 
heart. 

It  was  night,  but  the  trees  were  so 
full  of  the  great  dragon  lanterns  that 
it  made  it  almost  as  light  as  day,  and 
there  were  no  dark  corners  anywhere. 
There  was  a  dragon  orchestra  under 
one  of  the  trees,  playing  the  loveliest 
Chinese  music.  The  shrill  piping  of 
the  flageolets  and  the  beating  of  the 
"tom-toms"  were  indeed  beautiful 
to  the  ears  of  Chung  Goy  and  his 
friends.  It  looked  too  funny  for  any- 
thing to  see  dragons  holding  the  dif- 
ferent instruments  with  their  claws. 
The  Chinese  children  all  marched  to 

8 


Everybody  giggled  all  the  time,  in  their  funny  little  Chinese  way 


In  the  Land  of  the  Dragon 

the  music  in  a  row,  holding  each 
other  by  the  queue. 

Chung  Goy  had  never  had  so 
much  fun  in  all  his  little  life  as  he 
was  having  now.  Just  as  he  was  be- 
ginning to  feel  hungry  there  appeared 
before  his  gaze  a  very  long  table,  just 
filled  with  everything  a  child  could 
possibly  want,  and  all  served  by 
cunning  little  dragons.  There  were 
such  dainty  little  China  cups  with- 
out handles,  and  in  them  the  most 
delicious  chah  (tea). 

Everybody  giggled  all  the  time,  in 
their  funny  little  Chinese  way,  and 
no  one  told  them  to  stop. 

While  they  were  sitting  at  the 
table  the  dragons  brought  them  each 
a  big  basket  of  fireworks.  Now  a 
Chinese  child  is  even  more  fond  of 
fireworks  than  an  American  child, 

9 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

and  so  they  all  kicked  up  their  little 
sandals  with  delight,  and  after  each 
one  had  been  given  a  lighted  Chinese 
punk,  they  began  to  pop  them,  and 
oh,  what  fun  it  was!  There  was  a 
delightful  noise,  with  so  much  pop- 
ping, and  the  odor  of  the  punks  was 
most  pleasant  to  their  little  Chinese 
noses.  It  really  seemed  as  if  the 
more  they  popped,  the  more  they 
had  left  in  their  baskets. 

Finally,  the  big  King  of  the  drag- 
ons said  he  must  take  them  home 
now,  or  he  would  not  be  back  in 
time  for  the  parade,  and  it  would 
never  do  to  disappoint  the  people. 
So  each  one  was  allowed  to  keep  his 
basket,  and  they  squirmed  away  again, 
until  at  last  they  entered  the  narrow 
streets  of  Chinatown,  with  its  rows 
of  dragon  lanterns,  and  its  odor  of 

10 


In  the  Land  of  the  Dragon 

incense  everywhere.  Once  more 
Chung  Goy  climbed  the  narrow  steps, 
and  crept  into  the  arms  of  ho  chun, 
who  had  not  noticed  his  absence,  and 
he  arrived  just  in  time,  for  just  then 
there  was  a  great  noise  of  "  tom- 
toms," and  crowds  shouting. 

The  streets  were  aglare  with  a 
strange  red  light,  and  looking  down 
he  saw  the  familiar  form  of  the  King 
Dragon,  which  was  spitting  fire  from 
its  eyes  and  mouth;  but  this  time 
little  Chung  Goy  did  not  feel  afraid, 
for  he  knew — he  knew. 


ii 


TWO   LITTLE  CHINESE   SISTERS 


77FO  LITTLE 
CHINESE   SISTERS 

ONE  day  during  the  Chinese 
New  Year,  when  the  sea 
breezes  blew  softly  through 
the  narrow,  blossom-lined  streets  of 
Chinatown,  and  swayed  the  great  red 
dragon  lanterns  to  and  fro,  Poon 
Chew  and  her  little  sister,  Poon  Yet, 
decided  that  they  would  take  a  walk 
through  the  streets,  and  have  a  look 
at  all  the  beautiful  things  displayed 
in  the  windows.  Their  mo  chun  had 
dressed  them  up  in  their  very  best 
silken  robes,  —  robes  she  had  made 
for  this  very  week,  —  and  they  made 
a  pretty  picture  as  they  started  out 
under  their  gay  umbrella.  Their 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

blouses  were  of  pink  silk,  and  their 
trousers  of  pale  lavender.  They 
wore  gay  head-dresses,  and  were  in- 
deed beautiful  to  look  upon.  They 
would  never  have  started  out  alone 
if  the  little  mo  chun  had  not  been 
so  busy  making  the  great  New  Year 
cake,  which  was  to  be  served  with 
tea  to  her  guests  of  the  New  Year. 

"  Let 's  go  see  Sai  Gee,"  said  Poon 
Chew. 

"All  light,"  replied  the  little  sister. 

Sai  Gee,  a  little-footed  playmate 
of  theirs,  lived  just  a  few  doors  from 
them,  and  they  had  no  difficulty  in 
finding  her  home.  Sai  Gee  was  also 
dressed  up  in  her  gayest  attire,  but 
her  feet  were  too  small  to  find  much 
enjoyment  in  running  around  with 
the  children  whose  feet  were  of  the 
ordinary  size.  But  she  could  enter- 

16 


She  brought  forth  from  the  flute  the  most  wonderful  sounds 


Two  Little  Chinese  Sisters 

tain  them,  anyway,  for  Sai  Gee  could 
play  the  flute. 

It  was  really  wonderful.  She  sat 
upon  a  stool,  over  which  an  em- 
broidered robe  had  been  thrown,  and 
played  to  them.  Her  hair  was  done 
in  a  coil  back  of  her  right  ear,  and 
her  little  brown  face  was  sweet  and 
wistful  as  she  brought  forth  from  the 
flute  the  most  wonderful  sounds.  Sai 
Gee's  father  was  very  wealthy,  and  so 
the  little  one  had  everything  that 
money  could  buy.  Poon  Chew  made 
up  her  mind  right  then  that  she 
would  ask  her  father  to  buy  her  a 
flute.  Then  Sai  Gee  brought  forth 
some  tiny  cakes,  made  of  powdered 
nuts,  and  some  tea,  and  preserved 
watermelon;  and  for  each  of  the 
little  sisters  a  big  slice  of  New  Year's 
cake. 

17 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

"My!  but  we  have  good  time. 
I  likee  make  New  Yeah  call,  like 
mo  chun — we  go  now;  good-by," 
said  Poon  Chew. 

"Let's  look  in  window/'  the  big 
sister  said;  and  of  course  the  little 
one,  having  perfect  confidence  in 
Poon  Chew,  gladly  followed,  the  soft 
little  hand  clasped  in  that  of  the  sis- 
ter. Oh,  the  wonderful  things  they 
saw!  The  streets  looked  like  a  gar- 
den, with  the  rows  of  almond  blos- 
soms and  China  lilies,  and  on  every 
balcony  swung  in  rows  the  immense 
dragon  lanterns. 

They  stopped  awhile  —  they 
thought  it  only  a  few  minutes  —  to 
watch  some  boys  playing  a  New 
Year's  game,  and  then  passed  on  by 
the  stores,  where  the  smell  of  the 
good  things  made  them  very  hungry. 

18 


Two  Little  Chinese  Sisters 

"  Oh,  how  nice  the  loast  pohk 
(roast  pork)  smell!  I  velly  hungly, 
— we  go  home  pletty  soon,"  said  the 
older  sister. 

"Yes,  we  go  home  pletty  soon," 
echoed  Poon  Yet. 

The  little  feet  were  growing  tired, 
for  they  had  never  before  been  on 
the  streets  alone,  and  they  wanted  to 
get  all  the  pleasure  they  could  out 
of  it.  How  they  did  wish  they  had 
brought  some  money,  as  they  looked 
longingly  at  the  great  heaps  of  can- 
died cocoanut  and  ginger  on  the 
street-stands.  Their  eyes  must  have 
said  so,  for  just  as  they  were  gazing 
at  the  dainties  with  longing  eyes 
a  richly-dressed  Chinaman  came  by, 
and  the  first  thing  they  knew  he  was 
saying :  "  You  likee  candy,  ne  jai  ?  ' 
(little  girl). 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

It  startled  them  at  first,  but  when 
they  looked  up  and  saw  what  a  kind 
face  the  man  had,  they  did  not  feel 
afraid,  but  replied  :  "  Yes  —  we  velly 
hungly  —  we  no  bling  money;  we 
catch  'em  plenty  money  at  home." 

The  man  laughed  good-naturedly, 
and  having  bought  them  a  large 
package  of  candy,  started  on.  After 
they  had  eaten  some  of  it  they  no- 
ticed the  growing  darkness.  Could 
it  be  possible  that  night  was  com- 
ing on  ?  They  had  not  thought  of 
that;  it  had  seemed  so  bright  when 
they  started,  and  it  did  not  seem 
as  if  they  could  have  been  gone 
long. 

Meanwhile,  what  of  the  little  brown 
mother  at  home  ? 

When  she  finished  her  cake  she 
called  her  children.  She  had  made 

20 


Two  Little  Chinese  Sisters 

a  little  cake  just  for  them,  and  she 
wanted  them  to  come  and  eat  it. 

«  Poon  Chew  !  Poon  Yet !  "  she 
called ;  but  no  sound  came  back 
through  the  silence. 

"  Little  one — ne  jai^  come  to  mo 
chunf  No  reply. 

With  wildly  beating  heart  she 
rushed  through  the  tiny  rooms  and 
out  to  the  narrow  pavement.  She 
hailed  a  passing  policeman,  and  in 
faltering  Chinese  told  him  that  her 
little  ones  were  lost,  described  the 
pretty  clothes  they  wore,  and  all  the 
while  her  heart  was  wrung  with  a 
nameless  fear.  What  would  life  be 
without  the  soft  little  arms  about 
her  neck  ?  — the  patter  of  the  little 
sandalled  feet  ?  —  the  sound  of  the 
shrill  little  voices  at  play  ? 

This   policeman   told   others,    and 

21 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

they  were  all  searching  for  the  two 
children,  who  were  out  making  New 
Year's  calls. 

And  it  grew  darker.  Poon  Chew 
trembled,  as  she  realized  that  they 
were  lost.  She  did  not  know  which 
way  to  turn.  Some  men  were  lighting 
the  big  dragon  lanterns  on  the  balcony 
opposite,  so  it  was  really  night. 

"  Oh,  little  sister,  we  are  lost !  I 
forget ;  I  no  'member  the  way  home. 
What  will  we  do  ? '  she  moaned. 
She  had  no  idea  what  direction  her 
home  was  in,  and  her  eyes  were  filled 
with  tears  ;  but  now  through  the 
tears  she  saw  some  one  approaching. 
It  was  —  oh,  joy  !  the  old  nurse  Suey, 
leading  the  richly  dressed  little  Sai 
Chong,  brother  of  Sai  Gee. 

She  was  greatly  surprised  when  she 
saw  the  children  so  far  from  home, 

22 


Two  Little  Chinese  Sisters 

and  they  clung  to  her  neck,  weeping 
and  laughing  by  turns.  "  Take  us 
home  —  take  us  home;'1  they  cried. 
They  had  walked  so  far  and  were 
so  tired  that  she  got  a  Chinaman 
who  was  standing  by  to  take  them 
all  home  in  his  wagon.  When  they 
arrived,  they  found  the  little  mo 
chun  in  the  greatest  distress.  She 
was  very  much  astonished  as  she 
saw  them  all  tumble  out  of  the 
covered  wagon,  and  they  all  cried 
and  laughed,  and  never  did  the  little 
mother  receive  so  many  kisses;  and 
four  little  brown  arms  clasped  her 
neck  all  at  once,  and  the  little  sisters 
were  so  very  sorry  to  have  been  so 
naughty  that  they  said  : 

"  Mo  chun,  beautiful  cherry  blos- 
som —  we  neveh,  neveh  make  New 
Yeah  calls  again  without  you." 


THE   LITTLE   HIGHBINDER 


THE 

HIGHBINDER 


IT  was  the  one  desire  of  little 
Sing  Lee  to  be  a  highbinder. 
It  must  be  a  fine  thing,  for  his 
father  was  one,  and  so  it  must  be 
good.  It  was  true  he  did  not  have 
a  very  definite  idea  of  just  what 
it  meant  to  be  one,  but  he  knew 
this  :  his  father  belonged  to  the 
Hip  Sing  Tongs,  an  order  of  high- 
binders in  San  Francisco,  and  they 
were  men  who  kept  their  promises. 
At  night  as  he  lay  on  his  hard  bam- 
boo couch,  with  the  fumes  of  opium 
thick  around  him,  he  could  hear  ho 
chun  talking  in  a  low  tone  to  a  crowd 
of  men,  who  were  all  of  the  same 

27 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

order  of  highbinders  as  his  father. 
"  There  is  Chong  Sing,"  they 
were  saying ;  "  he  has  told  some 
of  our  secrets  to  a  white  devil,  and 
he  must  die;  the  joss  frowns  upon 
him." 

This  sounded  very  discouraging 
for  Chong  Sing,  and  little  Sing  Lee 
felt  sorry  for  a  moment,  for  he  re- 
membered that  one  day  this  same 
Chong  Sing  had  spoken  kindly,  and 
had  given  him  a  three-cornered 
package  of  lichee  (nuts)  and  candy. 
He  could  even  yet  taste  the  delicious 
strips  of  candied  cocoanut,  and  the 
dainty  citron.  Chong  Sing  had  said 
he  would  bring  him  some  more  an- 
other time,  and  now  —  he  was  to 
die.  If  he  died,  perhaps  no  one 
else  would  bring  candy  or  speak  a 
kind  word. 

28 


The  Little  Highbinder 

Little  Sing  Lee  lay  trembling  in  his 
bed  as  they  planned  the  murder  of 
his  friend.  What  could  he  do  ?  He 
was  only  a  little  boy,  and — he  had 
thought  to  be  a  highbinder  when  he 
was  a  big  man  like  ho  chun ;  and  if 
he  was  going  to  be  one,  he  must 
conquer  all  tenderness  of  heart, — 
and  yet,  this  man  had  been  kind  to 
him,  and  it  might  be  that  he  had 
little  boys  of  his  own  at  home. 

"If  I  was  a  highbinder,"  he  said 
to  himself,  "I  no  kill  nice  men  who 
bling  children  candy;  I  kill  bad 
men." 

Next  day  he  confided  his  thoughts 
to  mo  chun^  but  she  replied :  "  No  ! 
no  !  my  little  boy.  No  use  —  Hip 
Sing  Tongs  heap  big  —  heap  stlong 
(strong).  They  no  care  if  Chong 
Sing  give  lichee;  they  kill  him,  allee 

29 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

samee."  But  little  Sing  Lee  did 
not  forget.  He  still  thought,  how- 
ever, that  it  must  be  a  fine  thing  to 
be  a  highbinder,  if  only  one  just 
killed  the  bad  men  —  men  who  did 
not  give  candy  to  lonely  little  chil- 
dren and  speak  kind  words  to  them. 
So  that  very  day  he  went  around 
through  Chinatown  and  organized 
a  society  of  highbinders  among  his 
boy  friends. 

He  succeeded  in  getting  four  other 
boys  to  join,  and  they  all  took  their 
oaths  very  solemnly.  Now  that  they 
were  really  highbinders  they  must 
begin  to  kill  somebody.  Not  ever 
having  killed  anybody,  they  did  not 
know  how  to  go  about  it,  or  on 
whom  to  begin. 

Mo  chun  noticed  the  boys  carrying 
on  a  great  deal  of  private  conver- 

3° 


The  Little  Highbinder 

sation,  and  she  wondered  what  it 
could  be;  so  that  night,  after  Sing 
Lee  had  burned  his  punks  before 
the  god,  and  had  eaten  his  bowl  of 
rice  with  chopsticks,  she  said  to 
him  :  "  What  for  you  allee  time 
whisper  ?  You  no  eat  —  you  no 
sleep ;  tell  me  !  what  you  think  ? ' 

Mo  chun  was  such  a  dear  little 
brown  mother,  and  he  loved  her  so, 
that  when  she  looked  at  him  with 
her  slanting  velvet  eyes,  and  asked 
him  to  tell  her,  he  just  had  to,  that 
was  all.  He  was  not  afraid  of  her, 
for  Chinese  mothers  do  not  punish 
their  children,  and  anyway  —  the 
secret  was  too  good  to  keep,  so  why 
not  tell  her?  She  never  laughed  at 
him  like  ho  chun.  So  he  crept  close 
up  against  the  warmth  of  her  silken 
blouse  —  he  could  feel  her  tender 

3* 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

mother  heart  beating  beneath  it  — 
and  he  gazed  at  the  polished  hair 
and  the  pretty  mouth  as  he  talked. 

"  Mo  chun  —  I  likee  be  like  big 
man — like  ho  chun.  I  get  boys  to- 
geddeh ;  we  be  highbinders,  allee 
samee  ho  chun. 

"Ho  chun  velly  fine  man;  he  kill 
heap  of  people;  I  likee  do  that,  but, 
mo  chun^  my  beautiful  blossom,  I  no 
likee  ho  chun  to  kill  Chong  Sing;  he 
heap  good — he  bling  me  candy." 

"  What  you  mean,  little  boy  ?  How 
you  sabe  (know)  ho  chun  kill  Chong 
Sing  ?  Speak !  —  tell  me  ! " 

"Oh,  mo  chun  of  mine,  I  no  sleep  at 
night;  I  no  can  help  —  I  hear  ho  chun 
say  Chong  Sing  must  die.  I  velly 
solly;  he  heap  good  man  —  I  likee." 

Mo  chun  was  sorry  too,  for  she 
knew  him  to  be  a  good  man,  but  she 


The  Little  Highbinder 

knew  there  was  no  use  to  say  any- 
thing. If  they  had  decided  upon  his 
death  there  was  nothing  to  be  said. 

The  next  day  Sing  Lee  set  forth 
with  his  little  band  of  highbinders  to 
find  some  one  to  kill.  Mo  chun  had 
said:  "You  must  not  really  kill 
them,  you  sabe,  just  pletend  kill." 

Suddenly,  as  they  marched  on,  a 
bright  thought  struck  little  Sing  Lee. 
"Suppose  I  tell  Chong  Sing? — he 
live  near —  I  know  the  way,  and  — 
he  was  kind  to  me." 

He  then  confided  his  secret  to  his 
trusty  men,  and  they  marched  on, 
through  the  narrow  streets,  till  they 
came  to  the  home  of  the  good  Chong 
Sing  —  the  man  who  was  to  be  killed. 

It  was  dark  and  gloomy  where 
Chong  Sing  lived,  and  his  two  little 
children,  trudging  homeward  through 

3  33 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

the  narrow  alley-way,  arrived  at  the 
door  just  before  the  little  highbinders. 
Sing  Lee  could  see  their  ho  chun  as 
he  greeted  them,  and  they  clasped 
their  little  arms  about  his  neck, 
while  he  gazed  at  them  with  love  in 
his  eyes  —  and  yet  —  he  must  die. 

Sing  Lee's  mind  was  made  up. 
He  marched  boldly  to  the  door,  and 
stood  under  the  big  Chinese  letters 
which  meant  happiness  to  all  who 
should  enter  there,  and  he  could 
even  smell  the  incense  ever  kept 
burning  for  the  god,  —  the  god  who 
had  given  no  warning  to  Chong  Sing. 
With  a  soft  sound  of  sandalled  feet 
the  doomed  man  appeared  at  the 
door.  His  face  was  beaming  with 
good  nature.  He  carried  his  little 
girl  in  his  arms,  and  by  his  side  stood 
his  son,  a  manly  little  fellow. 

3+ 


The  Little  Highbinder 

With  his  heart  throbbing  as  if  it 
would  burst,  Sing  Lee  advanced  in 
front  of  his  men,  saying,  "  I  am  Sing 
Lee!  You  were  kind  to  me  once;  these 
are  my  men  —  highbinders — "(at  this 
Chong  Sing  smiled  in  a  very  amused 
way,  but  the  smile  was  changed  to 
something  else  when  the  boy  went 
on)  "I  no  forget  you;  I  velly  lonely 
—  you  bling  me  candy;  you  say  good 
word  to  me,  and  now  —  I  pay  you 
back. 

"  No  one  know  I  come  to  tell 
you ;  the  Hip  Sing  Tongs  they  say 
you  must  die.  They  say  you  tell 
seclets  to  white  devil :  I  no  know, 
I  no  care,  but  you  good  man ;  I 
likee  save  you.  I  want  you  to  go 
'way,  acloss  the  water.  You  go 
quick!  —  I  velly  solly  —  good-by." 

The  little  highbinder  did  not  kill 

35 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

any  one  that  day;  he  was  thinking 
of  a  pale,  set  face,  and  two  little 
brown  arms  clasped  about  a  father's 
neck.  Never  mind!  he  would  kill 
some  one  next  week,  or  "to-mollow." 
Some  one  who  was  bad  —  who  did 
not  bring  candy. 

There  was  great  surprise  among 
the  Hip  Sing  Tongs  when  their 
victim  was  not  to  be  found.  Such  a 
thing  had  never  happened  before,  and 
they  could  account  for  it  in  no  way. 

Of  course  they  did  not  think  to 
ask  the  little  mother  or  the  embryo 
highbinder.  And  while  they  were 
wondering  and  searching,  away  over 
across  the  blue  sea  were  the  Chinese 
father  and  mother,  and  brown,  happy 
children  —  safe. 


HOW  AH  CHEE   FOUND 
SANTA   CLAUS 


HOW  AH  CHEE 
FOUND  SANTA  GLAUS 

IT  was  Christmas  Eve.  In  the 
big  Chinatown  of  San  Fran- 
cisco little  Ah  Chee  and  her 
brother  Ah  Gong  were  eagerly  drink- 
ing in  the  words  of  the  old  Chinese 
story-teller  as  he  sat  on  the  streets 
and  told  stories  for  any  one  who 
cared  to  listen  and  to  give  him  a  few 
pennies.  It  was  getting  late,  and 
the  sea  wind  blew  roughly  through 
the  narrow  streets,  and  made  the 
dear  little  Chinese  noses  so  cold; 
but  then  Ah  Chee  did  not  mind,  for 
the  old  man  had  been  telling  them 
the  most  wonderful  tale,  —  something 
about  Christmas — the  'Melican  Clis- 

39 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

mas  —  and  he  had  said  something 
about  it  being  a  little  Baby's  birth- 
day, and  that  almost  everybody  in 
the  world  celebrated  it.  She  pon- 
dered over  it,  in  her  vague  little 
Chinese  way,  and  thought  it  very 
queer  that  they  should  make  such 
an  ado  about  just  a  baby. 

The  old  man  did  not  understand 
it  very  well  himself,  but  he  remem- 
bered that  when  he  used  to  be  cook 
for  an  American  family  once,  a  long 
time  ago,  the  children  had  hung 
up  their  stockings  on  this  particular 
night,  and  had  some  kind  of  a  tree 
with  beautiful  things  on  it.  They 
called  it  a  Christmas  tree,  he  re- 
membered, and  how  pleased  he  had 
been  when  there  were  found  to  be 
some  packages  for  him  on  that  same 
tree.  They  had  told  him  then  that 

40 


How  Ah  Chee  found  Santa  Glaus 

Santa  Glaus  had  put  them  there, 
and  he  could  never  forget  the  thrill 
of  surprise  and  pleasure  he  felt  at  the 
thought  that  this  mysterious  Santa 
Glaus,  whoever  he  might  be,  should 
have  remembered  him  when  he  had 
never  even  seen  him. 

And  now  the  story  was  finished, 
and  the  old  man  went  on  down  the 
street,  and  entered  a  shop  where  he 
would  smoke  opium  and  forget  all 
about  Christmas.  But  little  Ah 
Chee  did  not  forget.  She  sat  scrap- 
ing her  little  sandals  against  the  pave- 
ment, thinking  it  all  over.  Her  mo 
chun  was  upstairs  in  the  poor  little 
rooms,  sewing  by  the  dim  light  which 
struggled  through  the  lattice,  and 
wishing  that  she  were  not  so  poor, 
for  she  had  to  work  very  hard,  and 
often  they  did  not  have  enough  to 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

eat.  The  rice  was  almost  gone  now, 
and  there  were  only  a  few  leaves  of 
chah  (tea)  left. 

A  Chinese  mother  loves  her  chil- 
dren very  dearly,  and  always  tries  to 
gratify  their  every  wish;  so  it  made 
her  feel  badly  to  think  she  could 
not  give  them  embroidered  s horns 
(blouses),  and  sandals,  instead  of  the 
plain  dark  ones  they  always  had  to 
wear.  The  children  had  had  their 
rice  early  to-night,  and  had  gone 
out  in  the  street  to  play  "hawk 
catching  young  chickens/'  they 
said. 

She  did  not  know  the  story-teller 
had  been  there,  but  she  would  not 
have  objected  if  she  had  known,  for 
he  was  a  kind  old  man,  and  if  she 
could  have  spared  the  time  from  her 
sewing  she  also  would  have  listened; 

42 


How  Ah  Chee  found  Santa  Glaus 

for  a  Chinese  woman  is  like  a  child 
in  many  things.  She  had  heard  some 
one  say  this  was  the  American  Christ- 
mas, but  to  her  all  days  were  alike, 
— just  work,  that  was  all. 

Meanwhile  Ah  Chee  was  filled 
with  a  curious  longing  to  run  away 
from  the  picturesque  Chinatown, 
just  for  a  little  while,  to  see  if 
she  could  not  find  out  something 
more  about  this  wonderful  Santa 
Glaus.  She  would  give  anything  in 
the  world  to  see  him,  only  —  she 
had  nothing  to  give.  All  the  trin- 
kets the  poor  little  child  owned  were 
a  mud  pagoda  and  a  bit  of  painted 
wood  she  called  a  doll. 

Once  during  the  Chinese  New 
Year  her  dear  mo  chun  had  taken 
them  for  a  walk  outside  of  China- 
town, and  she  had  seen  the  wonder- 

43 


v         Little  Almond  Blossoms 

ful  shop-windows  of  the  Americans. 
How  different  they  were  from  the 
Chinese !  She  had  also  seen  some 
beautiful  things  that  her  mother  had 
said  were  dolls.  She  had  never  for- 
gotten it,  and  had  even  dreamed  of 
holding  one  of  these  wonderful  things 
in  her  arms.  But  it  could  only  be  a 
dream,  —  no  such  happiness  was  for 
her,  —  for  it  was  all  they  could  do 
to  get  enough  rice  to  eat,  without 
buying  American  dolls. 

«  Ah  Gong  !  '  she  cried,  fired  with 
a  sudden  and  bold  resolution,  "  Ah 
Gong !  you  likee  take  a  walk  with 
sisteh  ? ' 

Ah  Gong  was  at  that  moment 
busily  engaged  in  eating  a  dried  her- 
ring, which  the  kind-hearted  owner 
of  the  shop  next  door  had  given  him  ; 
but  that  fact  did  not  in  the  least 

44 


How  Ah  Chee  found  Santa  Glaus 

interfere  with  his  desire  to  see  new 
sights.  His  sparkling  Chinese  eyes 
fairly  danced  out  of  his  head  at  the 
mere  prospect. 

"  Yes,  I  likee,"  he  replied,  with  his 
mouth  full  of  herring.  "  What  foh 
you  takee  walk  ?  Where  you  go  ?  ' 

She  took  hold  of  the  end  of  his 
queue,  and  pulling  him  toward  her, 
whispered  in  his  ear  the  magic  words : 
« We  go  see  Clismas !  we  catch  'em 
Sanny  Claw." 

This  announcement  was  almost  too 
much  for  Ah  Gong,  and  his  little 
celestial  brain  could  not  take  in  so 
much  happiness  all  at  once,  so  he 
stared  at  her  a  moment  until  he  had 
swallowed  the  bite  of  herring,  and 
then  gasped  out :  « But  Ah  Gong 
'flaid  Sanny  Claw  spit  fieh  (fire)  on 
us ;  allee  samee  heap  big  dlagon." 

45 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

Ah  Chee  had  to  giggle  at  this, 
with  her  ever-ready  Chinese  giggle, 
but  putting  her  long  sateen  sleeve 
round  him  in  a  protecting  manner 
she  answered  him  in  the  kindest 
tone:  "Oh,  no  !  'Melican  Sanny  Claw 
heap  good  man  —  allee  samee  joss; 
we  go  find  him ;  come  along !  ' 

So  they  started  in  the  growing 
darkness,  with  the  sweet  faith  of 
a  child  in  their  hearts.  They 
knew  not  where  to  go,  nor  which 
way  to  turn,  but  only  had  the  one 
thought — just  to  find  the  'Meli- 
can Clismas.  When  they  had  disap- 
peared, the  shopkeeper  believed  they 
had  gone  home  for  the  night,  and 
gave  them  no  more  thought ;  the 
tired  mother  upstairs  supposed  that 
they  were  in  the  shop,  as  they  often 
went  in  there  and  played  until  late, 

46  > 


How  Ah  Chee  found  Santa  Glaus 

because  it  was   bright,  and   the  man 
was   kind   to   them. 

They  knew  they  could  not  find 
Santa  Glaus  in  Chinatown,  so  the 
first  thing  to  do  was  to  get  out  of 
the  Chinese  section,  and  into  one 
of  the  great  thoroughfares  of  the  city. 
On  they  went,  past  the  joss  house, 
where  they  had  once  been  with  their 
mother  to  burn  pretty  candles  before 
the  joss,  and  they  looked  up  with 
childish  admiration  at  the  big  round 
lanterns  which  hung  on  the  balcony, 
and  tried  to  read  the  Chinese  letters 
at  the  door.  Sometime,  perhaps 
when  the  moon  festival  came,  or  the 
Chinese  New  Year,  it  might  be  that 
mo  chun  would  take  them  again,  if 
she  had  money  enough  to  buy  any 
more  pretty  candles.  The  good  joss 
liked  pretty  candles. 

47 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

There  were  many  lovely  things  to 
be  seen  in  Chinatown,  but  to-night 
they  were  going  somewhere  else.  It 
did  not  occur  to  them  that  they 
might  get  lost,  or  that  their  dear 
mother  might  be  uneasy.  They  were 
too  much  excited  over  what  the  story- 
teller had  told  them  to  worry  over 
anything,  so  they  toddled  on,  their 
hearts  full  of  expectation.  They 
had  no  idea  what  Christmas  would 
be  like  when  they  should  find  it,  or 
whether  it  would  be  alive,  but  they 
could  wait.  How  very  queer  it 
seemed  when  they  had  left  the  nar- 
row crooked  streets  of  Chinatown, 
with  its  smell  of  incense  and  its  bal- 
conies and  lanterns,  and  found  them- 
selves on  a  great  wide  street  full  of 
people,  so  full  of  people  that  the 
heart  of  the  motherly  little  Ah  Chee 


How  Ah  Chee  found  Santa  Glaus 

almost  failed  her,  and  she  clasped  her 
arm  protectingly  around  the  body  of 
her  fat  baby  brother,  and  whispered 
words  of  encouragement  in  his  little 
brown  ear. 

Many  people,  in  the  hurry  of  their 
Christmas  shopping,  gave  a  passing 
thought  of  wonder  that  the  two  little 
Chinese  children  should  be  in  the 
dense  crowd  alone,  but  thought  per- 
haps their  parents  were  following 
them  ;  and  so,  with  a  smile  at  the 
dimpled  tea-rose  face  and  sparkling 
eyes  of  the  Chinese  maiden  they 
passed  on,  to  the  brightness  and 
good  cheer  of  their  own  comfortable 
homes.  There  were  so  many  street 
cars,  with  bells  clanging,  carriages 
dashing  past,  and  so  much  noise  and 
confusion  that  they  were  both  fright- 
ened. Even  the  brave  little  heart 

49 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

of  Ah  Chee  beat  violently  under  the 
padded  warmth  of  her  dark  blue 
blouse,  and  for  a  moment  she  almost 
feared  they  would  not  find  Santa 
Glaus.  But  just  then  a  voice  said 
something,  and  a  big  policeman  picked 
her  up,  and  smiled  at  her,  saying : 
« Where  are  you  going,  little  one  ? 
Where  is  mamma  ? ' 

The  timid  little  voice  of  Ah  Chee 
replied,  "  Mo  chun^  she  at  home ;  can 
you  tell  me,"  she  eagerly  questioned, 
"  where  Sanny  Claw  is  ?  ' 

"Why,  yes,  to  be  sure;  he  is  in 
there." 

In  there,  —  could  it  be  possible 
they  were  so  near  the  wonderful 
being  and  had  not  known  it  ? 

They  saw  a  very  large  store,  with 
great  crowds  of  people,  big  and  little, 
jostling  each  other  in  their  efforts  to 

50 


' (  Where  are  you  going,  little  one  ? ' ' 


How  Ah  Ghee  found  Santa  Glaus 

get  in.  So  all  these  people  were 
hunting  Santa  Glaus.  Ah  Chee  in 
her  childish  eagerness  slipped,  and 
would  have  fallen,  had  she  not  been 
caught  in  some  one's  arms.  The  arms 
belonged  to  a  richly  dressed  lady, 
who  looked  down  with  indifference 
at  the  pathetic  picture  of  the  two 
little  children,  and  was  about  to  draw 
her  skirts  aside  and  pass  on,  when 
the  little  Christ-child  must  have  put 
a  thought  into  her  worldly  heart, 
for  she  turned  and  looked  again  into 
the  wistful  little  faces. 

They  must  have  seen  some  sym- 
pathy in  her  face,  for  Ah  Chee  said 
hesitatingly,  « Oh,  if  you  please,  we 
likee  see  Sanny  Claw;  could  you 
show  us  ? ' 

For  a  moment  she  hesitated.  What 
would  her  aristocratic  friends  think 

5* 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

if  they  saw  her  taking  two  dirty  Chi- 
nese children  into  the  elegant  shop  ? 

"  Why  did  n't  your  father  bring 
you  ? '  she  said. 

«  My  fatheh  —  he  die  ;  we  no  got 
fatheh." 

Something  in  the  pleading  little 
face,  and  the  quiver  in  the  little  red 
mouths,  and  the  despair  in  the  great 
oblique  eyes  must  have  touched  the 
woman's  heart  beneath  all  its  worldly 
coating.  With  sudden  decision  she 
grasped  the  two  little  trembling  hands, 
and  throwing  all  her  old  false  pride 
to  the  Christmas  winds,  stepped  boldly 
into  the  shop,  where  all  was  elegance 
and  warmth  and  light  and  beauty. 

To  her  it  was  an  old  story.  She 
had  long  since  lost  the  spirit  of  Christ- 
mas, and  the  old  legend  of  Santa 
Glaus  brought  no  ecstasy  to  her,  for 


How  Ah  Ghee  found  Santa  Glaus 

there  were  no  children  at  her  home 
to  hang  up  their  stockings.  The 
little  Chinese  children  were  all  eyes 
now,  and  forgot  their  poverty  and 
the  bleak  darkness  of  their  home  as 
they  looked  for  the  first  time  at  all 
this  sparkling  beauty.  At  last  they 
found  him  —  the  "  'Melican  Sanny 
Claw  !  '  To  the  lady  it  was  nothing, 
—  such  an  old,  old  story,  —  but  to 
the  two  little  Chinese  children  it  was 
the  perfect  and  blissful  realization  of 
a  dream,  the  one  beautiful  event  in 
two  little  barren  lives.  And  now  — 
they  actually  stood  face  to  face  with 
Santa  Glaus.  Little  Ah  Gong  was 
glad  to  see  that  he  was  not  spitting 
fire,  like  the  Chinese  dragon,  and 
felt  quite  reassured. 

Santa  was  standing  by  a  sparkling 
tree  all  covered  with  pretty  candles, 

53 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

such  as  they  had  burned  for  the  joss, 
and  on  top  of  the  tree  was  a  great 
shining  star. 

« What  is  that  ?  "  said  Ah  Gong, 
pointing  with  his  chubby  forefinger 
to  the  star. 

«  That  ?  It  is  the  star  of  Bethle- 
hem," said  the  pretty  lady,  with  a 
queer  catch  in  her  voice,  while  for  the 
first  time  in  her  life  she  realized  a 
little  of  the  true  meaning  of  the  star. 

They  did  not  understand,  and  clung 
closer  to  each  other  as  they  neared 
the  wonderful  Santa  Glaus.  He  must 
have  come  from  a  very  cold  country, 
for  he  was  dressed  all  in  fur,  from 
head  to  foot,  and  had  rosy  cheeks 
and  long  white  whiskers. 

"  See,"  whispered  the  little  girl 
to  her  brother,  "it  is  the  heap  good 
'Melican  Santa  j  do  you  see  him  ? ' 

54 


How  Ah  Chee  found  Santa  Glaus 

"  Yes  —  yes  —  I  see  him  ;  I  no 
'flaid  now,"  he  said,  edging  closer  to 
him. 

The  beautiful  lady  was  whispering 
to  Santa  Glaus  —  actually  whispering. 
What  a  brave  lady  she  must  be,  and 
they  wondered  vaguely  what  she 
could  have  to  say  to  him.  And, 
wonder  of  wonders !  Santa  came 
right  up  to  them,  and  putting  out 
his  big  warm  hand,  clasped  the  trem- 
bling little  cold  hands  of  the  two 
children,  and  said :  "  What  do  you 
want  me  to  bring  you  ?  ' 

Was  there  ever  anything  so  won- 
derful ?  That  he  should  notice  them, 
and  speak  to  them  ?  Their  eyes  al- 
most danced  out  of  their  heads  at 
this  unexpected  question.  It  had 
never  occurred  to  their  innocent  lit- 
tle hearts  that  he  would  bring  them 

55 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

anything,  because  they  were  only 
Chinese,  and  the  Chinese  did  not 
believe  in  Santa  Glaus ;  they  only 
believed  in  the  Moon  Rabbit. 

As  he  spoke,  visions  of  wonderful 
things  flitted  through  their  minds, — 
things  they  dared  not  name.  The 
lady  said  to  Ah  Ghee:  "Tell  him, 
dear;  he  would  like  to  give  you 
something." 

Before  the  child  thought,  she  had 
spoken  the  words:  "  Could  you  — oh, 
could  you  —  bling  me  —  a  —  doll  ? ' 

"  A  doll  ?  Why,  yes ;  of  course 
you  shall  have  a  doll,"  he  said,  as 
the  lady  looked  at  him  in  a  meaning 
way.  And  then  all  the  boy  in  little 
Ah  Gong's  repressed  nature  broke 
forth,  and  he  hurriedly  gasped  :  "  A 
knife  —  I  likee  knife." 

The   lady   smiled  at   Santa  again, 

56 


How  Ah  Ghee  found  Santa  Glaus 

and  he  said:  "And  what  else,  my 
little  man  ?  " 

"  I  likee  led  (red)  wagon  —  " 

"  No — no — "  whispered  the  timid 
sister,  "  that  too  muchee  —  Santa  no 
likee  give  so  muchee." 

Some  more  mysterious  whispering 
went  on,  and  Santa  produced  from 
his  fur  pocket  a  little  book  and  pen- 
cil, and  wrote  down  a  great  many 
things.  Ah  Chee  did  not  know  what 
he  could  be  writing  —  perhaps  a  let- 
ter to  his  wife  at  the  North  Pole,  but 
she  did  not  care ;  she  only  knew  she 
was  going  to  get  what  she  had  longed 
for  all  her  little  lonely  life,  —  a  doll, 
—  and  her  motherly  heart  warmed 
and  thrilled  at  the  happy  thought. 

"  And  what  would  your  mamma 
like  ? '  he  was  saying  now. 

"  Oh,  —  my  mo  chun  ;   let  me  see, 

57 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

—  I    think   she   likee  wahm   (warm) 
shorn  (blouse)  and  —  that 's  all  light ; 
you  must  not  give  too  muchee ;    you 
so  good  —  you  so  good,"  she  sobbed. 

Her  little  starved  soul  was  run- 
ning over  with  the  joy  of  Christmas 

—  the   new  joy,  which  she  had  never 
before  tasted. 

«  You  shall  not  be  forgotten,  neither 
shall  your  mother.  Good-by,  and 
merry  Christmas!'  he  said;  and 
then,  after  showing  the  excited  chil- 
dren all  the  beautiful  toys  in  the 
shop,  the  lady  went  out  with  them 
once  more  into  the  crowded  streets. 

The  air  was  full  of  Christmas 
cheer,  and  every  one  was  smiling 
and  happy,  as  they  hurried  along 
with  their  arms  full  of  mysterious 
packages  and  called  out  Christmas 
greetings  to  each  other. 

58 


How  Ah  Ghee  found  Santa  Glaus 

* 

"  Do  you  know  where  you  live, 
children  ?  "  the  lady  now  said. 

Fortunately  Ah  Chee  remembered 
the  number  and  place  of  their  home, 
so  the  lady  put  them  into  a  car- 
riage and  seated  herself  beside  them. 
They  waited  in  the  carriage  awhile, 
till  a  man  came  out  of  the  shop 
and  placed  many  bundles  of  various 
shapes  and  sizes  in  with  them.  It 
was  so  dark  they  could  not  see  them, 
but  at  last,  after  rattling  over  the 
cobblestones  for  a  time,  they  saw  that 
they  had  entered  Chinatown,  and 
once  again  the  odor  of  the  incense 
greeted  them. 

Soon  the  carriage  stopped  right  in 
front  of  their  door,  and  they  could 
see  the  pale  face  of  mo  chun  peeping 
from  the  lattice. 

The  lady  told  the  driver  to  wait, 

59 


Lit  fie  Almond  Blossoms 

while  she  went  with  the  children 
up  the  dark  stairway.  Mo  chun  was 
never  so  surprised  in  her  life  as  she 
was  when  the  excited  children  rushed 
in,  pulling  the  lady  after  them.  She 
had  begun  to  be  frightened,  and  was 
just  going  down  to  the  shop  to  see 
what  was  the  matter,  when  they 
arrived,  breathless  and  happy.  She 
was  very  much  embarrassed  to  have 
the  rich  and  beautiful  lady  come 
into  her  poor  little  home,  but  al- 
most as  much  excited  and  pleased 
over  the  gifts  as  the  children,  and 
to  see  the  purse  of  gold  that  Santa 
had  brought  her.  She  had  not 
dreamed  there  was  such  kindness  in 
the  whole  big  world,  or  such  plenty 
and  happiness. 

It  was  enough  to  cure  any  amount 
of  heartaches  to  note  the  rapture  in 

60 


How  Ah  Chee  found  Santa  Glaus 

the  eyes  of  Ah  Chee  as  she  hugged 
the  wonderful  doll  to  her  motherly 
little  heart,  and  to  see  the  boyish  de- 
light with  which  Ah  Gong  displayed 
his  knife  and  red  wagon.  There 
were  many  other  gifts,  yet  they  had 
never  even  thought  there  were  such 
things  in  the  world.  Mo  chun  did 
not  know  how  to  thank  the  kind 
lady,  who  had,  with  one  gift  from 
her  jewelled  hands,  lifted  her  and 
her  children  from  poverty  to  com- 
fort. She  could  only  make  her  a 
cup  of  delicious  Chinese  tea,  and 
thank  her  in  her  pretty  little  Chinese 
way;  but  in  her  heart  she  thanked 
her,  and  the  beautiful  lady  under- 
stood, and  for  the  first  time  in  her 
life  realized  the  true  meaning  of 
Christmas. 


61 


THE   MOON  RABBIT 


Little  Priest 


THE  MOON  RABBIT 

IT    was    the    eve    of    the    Moon 
Festival.       The   homes    and   the 
people   of  Chinatown  were  gay 
within    and     gay    without,    and    the 
incense-laden    air    was    full     of   the 
holiday    spirit.      The    Moon    Festival 
with   the   Chinese  is    something    like 
the  American  Christmas,  only  it  lasts 
longer,    extending    into     their    New 
Year. 

Kon  Ying  had  not  been  very  happy 
in  her  little  life,  for  she  had  always 
been  made  to  feel  that  she  was  one 
too  many  in  the  home.  She  had 
three  sisters  older  than  herself,  and 
the  Chinese  do  not  like  so  many 
daughters, —  they  would  rather  have 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

sons;  so  when  she  arrived  in  the 
small  home,  it  was  decided  to  call 
her  Kon  Ying,  which  means  "enough 
hawks."  After  her  had  come  a 
baby  brother,  who  was  petted  and 
spoiled  in  every  way  possible,  be- 
cause he  was  a  boy.  As  he  was  the 
only  son,  the  parents  soon  resorted 
to  a  queer  Chinese  method.  They 
shaved  his  head  and  called  him  "  little 
priest,"  allowing  him  to  be  adopted 
by  another  family.  This  was  done 
to  deceive  the  bad  spirits,  and  make 
them  think  they  cared  no  more  for 
their  child  than  for  a  despised  priest, 
and  had  thought  so  little  of  him 
that  they  had  even  allowed  another 
family  to  adopt  him. 

Little  Kon  Ying  had  been  left 
to  herself  a  great  deal,  and  so  had 
thought  of  many  things.  Perhaps 

66 


She  and  one  of  her  sisters  were  on  the  step  in  front  of  their  borne 


'The  Moon  Rabbit 

she  had  thought  more  of  the  Moon 
Rabbit  than  anything  else,  and  won- 
dered in  her  childish  way  why  it  had 
never  remembered  her.  She  and  one 
of  her  sisters  were  on  the  step  in 
front  of  their  home  talking  about  it, 
when  she  saw  her  brother  across  the 
street,  in  front  of  the  joss  house. 
He  was  richly  dressed,  and  pretended 
he  did  not  know  her. 

The  streets  were  beautiful  to- 
night, so,  after  much  persuasion,  mo 
chun  had  promised  to  take  the  chil- 
dren to  see  the  shop  windows.  Soon 
the  mother  appeared  at  the  door, 
where  in  a  little  bowl  punks  were 
always  kept  burning  for  the  god, 
and  in  her  high-pitched  Chinese  voice 
told  the  children  she  was  ready.  Kon 
Ying  was  happy  for  once.  She  was 
happy  to-night,  because  she  was 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

strong  and  young,  and  the  Chinese 
world  was  beautiful.  And,  some- 
way, she  felt  that  the  rabbit  would 
really  remember  her  to-night. 

On  they  went,  one  after  another, 
in  true  Chinese  fashion,  but  never 
losing  sight  of  the  polished  hair  of 
mo  chun  in  front  of  them. 

How  gay  it  all  was,  and  how 
bright !  The  great  irregular  rows  of 
big  round  lanterns  looked  like  a  lot 
of  moons,  and  surely  the  rabbit's  own 
moon  could  not  be  more  beautiful. 
They  could  scarcely  tear  themselves 
away  from  the  bakeshop  windows, 
which  were  full  of  cakes  of  all 
kinds.  Some  were  shaped  like  the 
moon,  and  some  were  made  into  tall 
Chinese  pagodas,  a  fish,  a  horse,  or 
something  of  the  kind.  Some  had 
on  them  the  picture  of  the  white 

68 


The  Moon  Rabbit 

rabbit,  who  is  always  pounding  out 
rice  in  the  moon.  On  others  were 
painted  beautiful  gods  and  goddesses. 
Mo  chun  was  telling  them  that  when 
good  little  Chinese  children  were  all 
asleep  the  mysterious  rabbit  would 
come  to  the  shops  and  purchase  the 
pretty  things,  to  leave  in  the  homes 
of  the  children. 

Kon  Ying  was  thinking  as  she 
pressed  her  cunning  little  nose  up 
against  the  cold  glass  :  "  I  likee  know 
if  I  been  good  enough  this  time.  I 
help  mo  chun  —  I  play  (pray)  to  joss 
heap  plenty  time;  maybe  the  moon 
labbit  come  —  maybe,  I  no  sate" 
(understand).  She  only  knew  that 
she  had  done  her  best,  always ;  but 
perhaps  the  wonderful  rabbit  would 
not  think  so.  Never  mind !  she 
would  pray  once  more  to  the  ugly 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

little  old  god  at  home,  before  she 
went  to  sleep. 

Soon  they  came  to  the  toy  shops. 
She  felt  as  if  she  could  stay  for- 
ever, for  there  were  toys  of  all 
kinds,  and  no  one  would  ever  know 
how  good  they  seemed  to  a  poor 
little  Chinese  girl  who  had  never  had 
any  toys.  The  only  one  she  had 
ever  possessed  was  an  old  broken  doll 
she  had  once  found  upon  a  trash 
heap,  but  she  had  treasured  it  as  no 
doll  was  ever  before  treasured,  and 
had  given  it  all  the  pent-up  love  in 
her  little  starved  heart.  She  had 
even  named  it  "  Kin  Leen  ' '  (golden 
lily),  and  pretended  that  it  was  a 
fine  aristocratic  lady,  with  "little 
feet."  She  had  bound  its  feet  with 
strips  of  cloth,  and  it  was  to  this 
doll  that  she  had  gone  with  all  her 

70 


The  Moon  Rabbit 

troubles;  but  no  one  knew  this. 
If  her  proud  brother  had  known  he 
would  have  teased  her  unmercifully. 

There  were  so  many  lovely  pa- 
godas in  the  window,  and  some  of 
them  were  several  feet  high.  She 
would  like  one  of  these,  but  knew 
she  might  as  well  long  for  the  moon. 
There  was  something  in  the  win- 
dow which  she  would  rather  have 
than  a  pagoda  or  anything  else, 
and  she  longed  for  it  so  intensely 
that  a  real  prayer  must  have  gone 
out  from  her  little  innocent  heart. 
It  was  a  doll!  —  a  Chinese  doll,  with 
big  slanting  eyes,  like  Kon  Ying's 
own,  and  the  most  gorgeous  dress  of 
flowered  silk. 

Suddenly  it  dawned  upon  her  what 
she  would  do  when  she  got  home. 
Instead  of  praying  to  the  god  on  the 

7*      < 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

shelf  she  would  pray  to  the  moon 
rabbit,  and  beg  and  beg  of  it  to 
bring  her  a  doll.  If  she  could  only 
have  one  of  those  gorgeous  creatures, 
with  the  tuft  of  black  hair  on  its 
head,  and  the  wobbly  feet  and  arms, 
and  painted  cheeks  and  lips,  she 
would  surely  never  ask  for  anything 
else.  There  were  other  dolls  in 
plenty,  but  none  so  beautiful. 
They  were  only  bits  of  wood,  with 
eyes,  nose,  and  mouth  painted  on 
them.  If  she  had  not  seen  the 
big  one  she  might  have  cared  for 
those,  but  now  —  she  would  never 
care  for  them ;  she  had  seen  the 
queen. 

She  gasped  out,  in  her  shrill  child- 
ish voice :  "  Oh,  mo  chun  !  Why  — 
why  —  won't  the  moon  labbit  bling 
me  doll?" 


The  Moon  Rabbit 

Before  the  mother  could  reply,  a 
kind  hand  was  laid  upon  the  polished 
head  of  the  little  girl,  and  a  man's 
kind  voice  said  :  "  The  moon  labbit 
will  bling  you  doll,  and  all  the  little 
sistehs  too." 

Looking  up,  she  saw  that  the  voice 
came  from  the  lips  of  a  notori- 
ous highbinder  —  a  friend  of  her 
father's. 

The  man  had  been  to  their  home 
many  times.  She  had  liked  him, 
for  he  always  had  a  kind  word  for 
children,  and  last  New  Year  he  had 
even  brought  them  some  cunning 
little  mandarin  oranges,  and  a  pack- 
age of  Chinese  candy.  He  was 
said  to  be  a  very  bad  man,  but  he 
loved  children.  Speaking  a  few 
words  of  holiday  greeting,  he  passed 
on  into  the  shop,  while  Kon  Ying 

73 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

and  her  sisters  still  gazed  at  the  con- 
tents of  the  windows. 

The  big  doll  seemed  to  be  saying: 
"  I  am  yours,  Kon  Ying !  —  take 
me ! '  while  it  held  out  its  wobbly 
arms  in  entreaty.  Its  painted  lips 
seemed  as  if  they  might  be  forming 
pretty  Chinese  words  of  good  wishes 
for  the  Moon  Festival. 

Kon  Ying's  little  celestial  heart 
longed  for  it  with  a  terrible  longing, 
but  the  glass  was  between  them,  and 
so  —  her  heart  could  only  ache  in 
silence.  It  could  not  happen,  any- 
way. When  did  anything  nice  ever 
happen  to  her  ?  She  had  always 
been  in  the  way,  and  there  were 
no  toys  to  spare  for  her  —  little 
"Enough  Hawks." 

She  was  so  absorbed  in  gazing  at 
the  doll  that  she  did  not  see  the 

74 


The  Moon  Rabbit 

highbinder,  away  back  in  the  shop. 
Her  nose  was  pressed  against  the 
glass,  and  her  dirty  little  fingers  had 
left  ten  marks,  but  she  did  not 
know;  she  would  not  have  cared  if 
she  had  known.  Suddenly,  as  she 
gazed,  something  wonderful  hap- 
pened. A  big  blue  arm  reached 
into  the  window  from  the  shop,  and 
slim  fingers  with  long  Chinese  nails 
closed  upon  the  doll,  lifting  it  out 
of  the  window,  to  disappear  from  the 
gaze  of  the  enraptured  children.  It 
seemed  to  blink  its  slanting  eyes  in 
farewell  as  it  departed. 

The  pale  yellow  ivory  face  of  little 
Kon  Ying  appeared  to  grow  even 
more  pale  as  she  screamed  out,  in 
that  little  nasal  voice  of  hers :  "  She 
gone  —  the  moon  labbit  no  can  get 
her  now  to  bling  to  me.  Heap  bad 

75 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

spirit  catch  'em  doll :  I  so  solly  —  I 
so  solly." 

It  seemed  to  her  that  when  the 
doll  had  gone  from  her  sight  it  had 
taken  with  it  the  very  heart  out  of 
her  body,  and  she  did  not  care  to 
linger  now,  so  they  passed  on,  to 
other  sights  and  sounds. 

On  a  flower-laden  balcony  some 
one  was  twanging  on  a  sam  yun 
(banjo),  but  even  music  had  no 
charm  for  her  now,  because  —  the 
DOLL  was  gone.  She  would  never 
see  it  again ;  the  bad  spirits  had  taken 
it.  Perhaps  it  was  because  she  had 
neglected  to  pray  to  the  god  lately. 
She  had  even  dared,  when  no  one 
was  looking,  to  make  a  horrible  face 
at  him,  and  tell  him  she  hated  him. 
She  did  this  because  her  little  heart 
was  so  heavy;  no  one  seemed  to 


The  Moon  Rabbit 

care  for  her,  and  the  god  never  made 
anything  nice  happen  to  her,  nor 
paid  any  attention  to  her  little 
prayers.  Never  mind !  she  would 
pray  to  the  moon  rabbit  after  this; 
perhaps  it  would  hear  her  prayer. 
After  she  had  decided  upon  this 
course  she  was  anxious  to  get  back 
to  her  home.  The  children  were  all 
getting  tired  now,  and  their  wooden 
sandals  dragged  heavily  upon  the 
narrow  pavements. 

"  We  go  home  now,"  said  mo  chun; 
"  Maybe  moon  labbit  come  to-night." 

At  last  they  reached  their  home, 
and  the  tired  children  ascended  the 
stairway.  Kon  Ying  set  to  work  to 
offer  her  sacrifices,  as  she  was  tired 
and  wanted  to  go  to  bed.  She  had 
nothing  to  offer  the  moon  rabbit 
except  her  old  broken  doll;  so  she 

77 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

placed  it  on  a  table  and  burned  her 
incense  sticks,  and  everybody  thought 
she  was  praying  to  the  god.  But  she 
was  not;  she  knew,  —  and  the  god 
knew.  At  last  she  laid  her  tired  head 
on  the  hard  couch. 

It  seemed  to  her  she  had  only 
been  there  a  minute,  when  there 
came  a  great  glare  of  light  and  the 
sound  of  Chinese  flutes.  The  lattice 
window  opened,  and  in  marched  a 
troop  of  tiny  Chinamen,  dressed  in 
purple  and  gold.  Each  one  carried  a 
stick  of  lighted  incense  for  a  torch, 
making  the  room  as  bright  as  day. 

They  marched  right  up  to  where 
Kon  Ying  lay,  and  the  most  richly 
dressed  one  said :  "  Kon  Ying,  our 
queen  has  prepared  a  banquet  for 
you ;  will  your  highness  please  to 
accept  the  invitation  ? ' 


The  Moon  Rabbit 

\ 

Kon  Ying  was  frightened  at  first, 
but  something  within  her  seemed  to 
speak  the  words :  «  I  shall  be  pleased 
to  obey  the  commands  of  your 
queen ;'  and  she  made  a  curtsey  to 
the  royal  messenger. 

«  Be  prepared  to  go  when  the  time 
comes ! '  he  said,  and  vanished  with 
his  company. 

By  and  by  there  was  another  glare 
of  lights,  and  the  sound  of  music. 
The  lattice  opened  again,  and  there 
flitted  in  a  crowd  of  the  dearest  little 
Chinese  ladies,  all  clad  in  pink  silk 
blouses,  with  lavender  trousers,  and 
pretty  little  golden  sandals.  They 
had  so  many  diamonds  in  their  hair 
and  ears  that  it  almost  put  out  little 
Kon  Ying's  eyes.  They  each  carried 
a  tiny  Chinese  lantern,  which  shed  a 
soft  light. 

79 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

The  most  beautiful  one  now  ap- 
proached Kon  Ying  and  said :  "  The 
queen  has  sent  you  a  royal  robe; 
please  put  it  on,  and  we  will  hasten 
to  the  moon." 

Again  the  little  girl  gasped  out : 
"Your  highness'  commands  shall  be 
obeyed; ''  and  slipping  from  her  couch 
she  stood  shivering  upon  the  floor, 
while  the  moon-maidens  arrayed 
her  in  a  robe  of  palest  lavender. 

"  Our  queen  heard  your  prayer, 
and  has  sent  us  to  carry  you  to  her 
kingdom,"  they  said ;  and  spreading 
out  the  wide  Chinese  sleeves  of  her 
gown  until  they  looked  just  like 
wings,  they  told  her  to  come,  and 
away  through  the  window  she  flew 
with  them. 

She  felt  as  light  as  a  feather,  and 
could  not  resist  the  pleasure  of  mak- 

80 


The  Moon  Rabbit 

ing  one  real  ugly  face  at  the  god  as 
she  passed.  There  stood  on  the 
street  in  front  of  the  house  a  row 
of  the  dearest  little  sedan  chairs,  all 
glittering  with  gold,  and  carried  by 
huge  white  rabbits.  Before  she  could 
say  a  word  they  had  opened  the 
door  for  her,  and  placing  her  inside, 
flew  away,  —  away  from  the  squatty 
little  god  and  the  smell  of  incense, 
away  from  the  great  shining  lanterns 
of  the  dragon,  and  the  narrow,  crooked 
streets,  and  into  air  that  was  so  pure 
it  seemed  like  a  delicious  nectar. 

Kon  Ying  leaned  from  the  win- 
dow of  her  sedan  chair  and  gazed  at 
all  the  wondrous  beauty  of  the  sky. 
As  they  passed  through  the  milky 
way  some  tiny  star-fairies  handed 
her  a  jewelled  glass  of  the  richest 
milk.  She  was  very  glad,  for  it 
6  81 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

seemed  a  long  time  since  her  supper 
of  rice  and  tea.  She  was  far  away 
from  the  lights  of  the  city  now,  and 
surrounded  by  the  dazzling  radi- 
ance of  the  stars.  One  very  large 
star  seemed  to  be  the  queen,  and  all 
the  little  stars  bowed  down  before 
it,  chanting  the  sweetest  melody. 

They  were  getting  nearer  and 
nearer  the  moon  now,  and,  oh,  how 
very  large  it  was !  To  Kon  Ying  it 
had  always  seemed  no  larger  than  a 
small  Chinese  lantern,  but  now,  as  she 
came  nearer,  it  seemed  greater  than 
the  whole  world.  Soon  she  could 
see  it  no  more,  and  the  white  rabbits 
told  her  that  they  were  already  in  the 
moon.  It  was  the  most  beautiful 
country.  The  velvet  grass  was  cov- 
ered with  the  sacred  almond  blossom 
petals,  and  their  perfume  was  sweeter 

82 


The  Moon  Rabbit 

far  than  any  incense.  They  passed 
through  a  long  avenue  of  pure  white 
chrysanthemums,  which  showered 
their  petals  upon  them  like  snow. 
At  the  end  of  this  avenue  the  chairs 
were  stopped,  and  cunning  little  white- 
rabbit  pages  assisted  them  gently  to 
the  ground.  A  tender  light  flooded 
the  place,  and  when  Kon  Ying  raised 
her  eyes  she  saw  before  her  a  throne, 
draped  with  the  flags  of  the  Imperial 
Court  of  China,  —  yellow  silk,  with 
blue  dragons  embroidered  upon 
them,  —  and  on  the  throne  sat  the 
queen,  —  the  good  moon  rabbit  who 
had  heard  her  prayer. 

This  queen  was  busily  engaged  in 
pounding  rice,  pounding  it  into  a 
powder,  and  then  sending  it  down 
to  earth,  to  be  eaten  during  the 
Moon  Festival  and  the  China  New 

83 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

Year.  She  wore  a  pink  gauze  dress 
all  covered  with  glittering  spangles, 
and  as  Kon  Ying  approached  the 
queen  was  singing : 

"The  small-footed  girl  with  the  sweet  little 

smile, 
She   loves   to  eat  sugar  and  sweets  all   the 

while ; 
Her  money  Js  all  gone,  and  because  she  can't 

buy, 
She  holds  her  small  feet  while  she  sits  down 

to  cry." 

It  sounded  very  pretty,  as  the 
queen  had  quite  a  sweet  voice,  and 
Kon  Ying  soon  found  herself  singing 
it  with  all  the  others.  The  queen 
extended  one  soft  white  paw  in  greet- 
ing, but  kept  on  pounding  rice  with 
the  other. 

All  the  dear  little  Chinese  ladies 
and  men  now  seated  themselves 


The  Moon  Rabbit 

around  the  throne.  The  white- 
rabbit  pages  handed  each  one  a  dif- 
ferent musical  instrument,  and  there 
burst  forth  the  loveliest  music  that 
Kon  Ying  had  ever  heard.  She 
found  that  she  could  play  quite 
as  well  as  any  of  them,  which  was 
a  great  surprise  to  her,  as  she  had 
never  before  even  touched  a  musical 
instrument. 

After  the  music  the  queen  ordered 
refreshments  served,  and  they  entered 
a  bower  of  almond  blossoms  and 
China  lilies,  seating  themselves  at  a 
long  table,  where  they  were  served 
by  a  lot  of  tiny  white-rabbit  pages. 
They  ate  with  ivory  chopsticks  set 
with  diamonds.  The  queen  sat  at 
the  head  of  the  table,  and  could  hold 
the  chopsticks  in  her  paws  quite  as 
well  as  any  one.  What  a  feast  that 

85 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

was !  Yet  plenty  of  funny  things 
happened,  even  if  it  was  a  royal  com- 
pany. The  queen  forgot  herself,  and 
stuck  her  nose  right  into  a  bowl  of 
hot  rice,  at  which  there  was  a  general 
giggk*  A  page  quickly  brought  a 
finger-bowl  and  sponged  the  burnt 
nose,  so  it  was  all  right. 

There  were  all  sorts  of  good  Chi- 
nese things  to  eat,  —  delicious  chah 
(tea)  in  little  handleless  bowls,  all 
kinds  of  pretty  moon-cakes,  little 
biscuit  made  of  almond  meal;  water- 
melon seed,  and  many  other  things. 
When  the  feast  was  ended  the  queen 
said  that  each  of  them  could  make 
one  wish,  and  it  would  be  gratified. 
Kon  Ying  did  not  have  to  hesitate 
long  over  her  wish. 

She  knew  what  she  wanted  more 
than  anything  in  the  world,  and  she 

86 


The  Moon  Rabbit 

remembered  that  she  had  prayed  to 
the  rabbit,  so  perhaps  —  perhaps  — 
«  Oh,  dear  queen  !  "  she  said  at  last  in 
her  piping  little  voice,  "  I  be  so  good 
if  only  —  if  only  —  I  could  have  —  a 
doll,  like  the  one  in  the  shop  win- 
dow ;  oh,  if  I  could  —  if  I  could." 

Her  eyes  were  full  of  tears  as  she 
finished,  for  it  meant  so  much  to 
her.  The  good  moon  rabbit  re- 
plied :  "  You  shall  have  your  wish, 
little  one,  for  you  are  a  good  child." 

Kon  Ying  now  bade  farewell  to 
the  queen  and  all  the  dear  little 
Chinese  people,  and  jumping  into 
the  sedan  chair  was  soon  whirling 
away  once  more,  and  in  a  short  while 
found  herself  entering  the  window 
of  her  own  home,  and  placing  her 
tired  body  on  the  bed.  When  she 
awoke  the  next  morning  she  re- 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

membered  the  queen's  promise,  and 
—  what  was  that  on  her  bed,  close 
beside  her  ?  A  queer  looking  pack- 
age, and  on  it,  written  in  Chinese 
letters,  "  For  good  little  Kon  Ying, 
from  the  moon  labbit."  Hastily 
tearing  open  the  packet  she  saw 
disclosed  —  the  DOLL!  She  fan- 
cied the  god  frowned  when  he 
saw  it. 

That  night,  when  the  narrow  Chi- 
nese streets  were  gay  with  the  many 
lanterns,  and  sweet  with  the  fragrant 
almond  blossom  and  lily,  and  the 
happy  crowds  were  thronging  the 
streets,  the  old  highbinder  passed 
the  door.  He  smiled  as  he  saw 
little  Kon  Ying  seated  in  the  door- 
way, holding  the  DOLL  in  her  arms, 
and  with  rapture  unspeakable  in  her 
childish  eyes. 

88 


The  Moon  Rabbit 

"  Where  you  catch  'em  ? '  he  in- 
quired in  a  jovial  tone. 

« Oh,  I  so  happy,"  she  said.  « I 
went  to  the  moon  last  night,  and 
the  moon  labbit  did  bling  me  the 
DOLL." 

And  the  highbinder  smiled. 


HOW  SANTA  CLAUS  CAME 
TO   SUET  HIP 


HOW  SANTA   GLAUS 
CAME   TO  SUET  HIP 

SUEY  HIP  was  a  little   Chinese 
girl.       She    did    not    have    a 
bright,    cheerful    home,    but 
lived    in   a   cellar,    with    steps    going 
down  from  the  street.      It  was   dark 
and  smoky  down  there,  but  of  course 
it  did  not  seem  so  bad  to  Suey  Hip 
as  it  would  to  those  who  have  always 
had   a   nice    home,  because   she   had 

4 

never  known  anything  else. 

Sometimes  the  children  of  a  wealthy 
Chinese  merchant  would  toddle  by 
in  their  richly  embroidered  robes, 
and  their  feet  were  so  small  they 
could  hardly  walk.  Suey  Hip  would 
sit  on  the  top  of  the  steps,  and  when 

93 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

she  wished,  play  on  the  pavement  in 
front  of  her  home.  And,  oh,  how 
she  did  long  for  some  of  those  pretty 
garments !  But  her  mo  chun  worked 
very  hard  to  get  what  she  had  by 
sewing  for  the  Chinese  stores,  and 
there  was  no  way  to  get  anything 
more. 

Now  one  day  when  Suey  Hip  sat 
on  the  step  sunning  herself,  and  look- 
ing with  longing  eyes  at  the  people 
as  they  passed,  there  came  a  little 
American  girl,  walking  with  her  papa 
through  the  streets.  Suey  Hip  was 
very  bashful,  and  hung  her  head,  and 
scraped  her  little  sandals  on  the  pave- 
ment as  they  passed  before  her. 

"  Hello,  little  one,"  said  the  man, 
in  such  a  kind  voice  that  Suey 
Hip  looked  up,  and  as  she  did  so, 
caught  sight  of  something  in  the 

94 


How  Santa  Glaus  came  to  Suey  Hip 

little  Dorothy's  arms  that  put  her 
little  motherly  heart  all  in  a  glow* 
and  she  no  longer  felt  afraid.  What 
was  it  she  saw  ?  Why,  just  the  love- 
liest big  doll,  with  eyes  that  opened 
and  shut,  and  it  was  dressed  all  in 
pink  silk.  Oh,  the  wonder  and  de- 
light that  sparkled  in  the  dark  eyes 
as  she  gazed.  It  seemed  too  beauti- 
ful to  be  anything  but  a  dream,  and 
she  cried  as  she  looked  into  the  sweet 
face  of  little  Dorothy  :  "  Oh,  what  is 
it  ?  Where  you  catch  'em  ? ' 

Dorothy  laughed  as  she  replied  : 
«  Why,  this  is  my  dollie ;  Santa  Glaus 
brought  it  to  me  last  Christmas." 

"  Sanny  Claw  ?  Who  Sanny 
Claw  ?  —  what 's  Clismas  ?  '  eagerly 
inquired  the  child. 

"  Don't  you  know  what  Christmas 
is  ?  "  said  Dorothy.  «  Why,  Christ- 

95 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

mas  is  the  loveliest  time  of  all  the 
year.  It  is  then  that  we  hang  up 
our  stockings,  and  in  the  night  while 
we  are  asleep  Santa  Glaus  comes 
down  the  chimney,  and  fills  our 
stockings  with  the  loveliest  things  — 
dolls  and  toys  and  candy,  and,  oh 
— just  everything." 

All  this  time  Dorothy's  papa  stood 
listening  in  amused  silence,  as  he 
thought  it  best  to  let  the  children 
carry  on  their  conversation  in  their 
own  way. 

"  I  wish  I  was  you,"  said  Suey 
Hip.  "  Sanny  Claw  no  come  here ; 
we  no  have  Clismas ;  you  think  he 
ever  come  —  bling  me  doll  ? ' 

Just  then  Dorothy's  papa  spoke 
and  said  :  "  I  tell  you  what  to  do. 
You  get  your  mamma  to  write  a 
note  in  Chinese  to  Santa,  and  we 


How  Santa  Glaus  came  to  Suey  Hip 

will  come  to-morrow  and  get  the 
note  and  I  will  see  that  Santa  Glaus 
gets  it.  It  is  now  just  one  month 
until  Christmas,  and  who  knows 
what  may  happen  in  that  time  ? ' 

« You    come    again    to-mollow  ? ' 
eagerly  inquired  the  child,  and   Dor- 
othy said,  "Yes — yes,  we  will,  won't 
we,  papa  ? ' 

"Yes,  dear,  we  will  come  again 
to-morrow." 

When  they  had  passed  out  of  sight 
along  the  narrow  streets,  Suey  Hip 
toddled  down  the  dark  steps  into  the 
cellar  she  called  home,  and  going  to 
her  mother,  who  sat  sewing  by  a 
tiny  latticed  window,  she  exclaimed  : 
"Oh,  mo  chun !  little  'Melican  girl 
she  say  Sanny  Claw  come  evvy 
yeah  —  bling  doll  —  bling  candy, 
toy,  evvything.  She  say  you  lite 

97 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

note   to  Sanny  Claw;    tell  him  come 
bling  me  doll  Clismas." 

After  a  great  deal  of  explanation 
she  made  her  little  brown  mother 
understand,  and  although  she  herself 
could  not  really  believe  that  anything 
so  nice  could  happen  to  her  child, 
yet  she  had  a  mother's  tender  heart, 
and  was  willing  to  do  all  the  child 
asked  of  her.  So  she  left  her  work, 
and  went  to  a  little  table  where 
there  were  some  odd-looking  writ- 
ing materials,  Suey  Hip  watching 
her  eagerly  all  the  while,  and  tak- 
ing up  a  slender  brush-stick,  dipped 
it  in  an  ink-like  mixture,  and  began 
to  make  queer  Chinese  letters  up 
and  down  the  long  slip  of  red 
paper.  After  much  effort  it  was 
finished,  and  given  to  Suey  Hip. 
She  placed  it  carefully  in  a  little 


Suey  Hip  was  very  much  dressed  up 


How  Santa  Glaus  came  to  Suey  Hip 

vase,  and  went  out  again  to  play  on 
the  streets. 

She  was  so  excited  that  night  that 
she  could  hardly  eat  her  supper  of 
rice  and  tea  and  little  sweetened 
cakes.  She  was  almost  too  much 
excited  to  burn  her  incense  before 
the  little  god  in  the  corner,  but  she 
managed  to  get  through  with  it,  and 
was  then  put  to  bed.  Next  day  at 
the  same  hour  Suey  Hip's  face  had 
been  scrubbed  until  it  fairly  shone, 
and  her  thick  black  hair  was  pasted 
down  and  braided  into  a  long  queue. 
She  wore  her  best  trousers  and  blouse 
of  light  blue  silk,  and  little  red  san- 
dals. Suey  Hip  was  very  much 
dressed  up. 

The  shy  little  mother,  who  had 
also  come  out  on  the  pavement  to 
watch  for  the  Americans,  put  her 

99 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

fan  up  to  hide  her  face  when  she  saw 
them  coming,  and  quietly  as  a  mouse 
slipped  down  the  steps  again.  Suey 
Hip  eagerly  handed  them  the  note 
which  was  to  mean  so  much  to  her. 
Dorothy's  mama  had  come  with 
them  this  time,  and  when  she  caught 
a  glimpse  of  the  timid  little  Chinese 
mother  peeping  eagerly  up  at  them, 
she,  with  her  kind  woman's  heart, 
stepped  down  into  the  dark  cellar, 
and  stretched  out  both  her  white 
hands  to  meet  the  little  brown  hands 
of  the  mother  who  lived  in  a  cellar. 

She  managed  to  make  herself  un- 
derstood, and  there  was  a  good  deal 
of  low  talking,  and  mysterious  signs 
between  the  two  mothers,  but  they 
understood,  as  mothers  will ;  and  papa 
pretended  he  did  not  see  and  hear. 
Dorothy  told  Suey  Hip  it  was  just  a 

100 


How  Santa  Glaus  came  to  Suey  Hip 

month  until  Christmas,  and  that 
would  not  be  very  long — just  four 
little  weeks,  which  would  soon  pass. 
Then  Mrs.  Suey  shyly  asked  them 
to  come  in  and  have  a  cup  of  tea, 
which,  served  in  the  dearest  little 
bowls,  proved  to  be  the  best  they 
had  ever  tasted. 

After  that  there  were  a  great 
many  calls  from  Dorothy  and  her 
mama,  and  a  great  deal  more  of  that 
mysterious  whispering  between  the 
two  mothers,  until  at  last  it  was 
announced  that  the  very  next  day 
would  be  Christmas.  "Oh,  too 
good  —  too  good,"  said  Suey  Hip, 
as  she  toddled  around,  too  delighted 
to  be  quiet  one  minute. 

It  seemed  as  if  the  day  would  never 
pass,  but  after  awhile  the  shadows 
began  to  fall  on  the  narrow  streets, 

101 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

and  the  big  lanterns  were  lighted,  and 
made  everything  beautiful ;  and  Suey 
Hip  knew  that  she  was  the  only  child 
in  all  the  big  Chinatown  who  would 
hang  up  her  stocking  that  night. 

The  hour  had  come.  She  got  out 
her  very  best  pair  of  cream-colored 
stockings,  and  with  trembling  little 
fingers  hung  them  securely  to  the 
foot  of  her  couch,  and  was  soon  in 
the  land  of  dreams.  In  the  midst  of 
her  dream  she  awoke  with  a  start. 
She  wondered  if  he  had  been  here 
yet.  It  was  so  dark,  but  oh  —  she 
felt  as  if  she  just  couldn't  wait.  But 
she  knew  mo  chun  was  tired,  and  she 
did  not  wish  to  awaken  her,  so  she 
crept  softly  to  the  foot  of  the  bed, 
and  groped  around  in  the  dark,  for 
her  stockings.  Once  she  almost  fell 
off  the  bed,  but  finally  her  little  hands 

102 


How  Santa  Glaus  came  to  Suey  Hip 

found  what  she  sought,  and  she  felt 
the  stockings. 

They  were  all  lumpy  and  fat, — 
what  could  be  in  them?  In  the  top 
of  one  she  felt  something  large  — 
something  with  hands  and  feet  and 
hair.  Oh,  joy !  could  it  be  ?  But 
she  must  wait  and  see. 

Oh,  how  glad  she  was  when  she 
heard  mo  chun  moving,  and  saw  the 
first  glimmer  of  the  day  steal  into 
their  cellar  home  !  With  one  bound 
she  was  out  of  bed,  and  mo  chun  was 
as  glad  as  she,  for  really  and  truly, 
in  the  dark  night,  the  "'Melican 
Sanny  Claw"  had  by  some  means 
crept  down  there,  and  just  filled  her 
stockings  with  good  things.  The 
thing  with  hands  and  feet  and  hair 
was  a  real  doll,  with  big  blue  eyes 
that  opened  and  shut,  and  yellow 

103 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

hair  and  a  blue  silk  dress.  It  had 
on  the  dearest  little  shoes  and  ear- 
rings, bracelets,  a  necklace,  and  a 
nice  big  hat. 

Oh,  how  she  hugged  it  to  her  heart, 
and  could  scarcely  put  it  down  long 
enough  to  see  what  else  was  there. 
Not  only  were  the  stockings  full,  but 
there  were  lovely  things  all  around. 
There  was  the  nicest  little  trunk  for 
dollie,  all  full  of  pretty  dresses  and 
wraps,  and  there  was  doll  furniture, 
and  the  daintiest  set  of  doll  dishes. 
It  seemed  to  the  poor  little  Chinese 
girl  that  she  had  everything  in  the 
world  there  was  to  have,  and — what 
do  you  suppose  ?  Poked  in  through 
the  little  latticed  window  they  found 
a  package,  and  on  it  the  words — 

"FOR    MAMA    SUEY,    FROM 

SANTA   CLAUS," 
104 


How  Santa  Glaus  came  to  Suey  Hip 

When  her  trembling  hands  had 
eagerly  opened  it,  what  should  she 
find  but  a  whole  lot  of  gold  money? 
Oh,  how  happy  she  was !  Now  she 
would  not  have  to  work  so  hard, 
and  strain  her  eyes  at  night  by  the 
dim  candle.  Now,  they  could  have 
some  pork  whenever  they  wished, 
and  they  pictured  all  the  happiness 
it  would  bring  them.  When  Doro- 
thy's papa  and  mama  came  that  day 
they  found  the  happiest  hearts  in  the 
whole  big  city,  and  when  they  saw 
the  joy  that  had  come  into  this 
little  cellar  home,  they  were  glad 
that  they  had  given  the  note  to  dear 
old  "Sanny  Claw." 


105 


THE  EASTER   DREAM   OF 
MUN  CHEE 


EASTER 
DREAM  OF  MUN  CHEE 

MUN  CHEE  had  a  wonderful 
dream  one  night.  Being  a 
little  Chinese  aristocrat,  she 
had  never  played  just  as  the  common 
people's  children  play,  and  in  her  little 
heart  she  sometimes  longed  to  get 
out,  she  and  her  two  little  brothers, 
and  run  wild  through  the  narrow  Chi- 
nese streets,  and  to  be  as  free  as  the 
winds,  just  as  the  children  of  poor 
people  might  do;  but  she  could  not 
do  this.  So  much  was  due  to  her 
station  in  life,  as  she  was  to  be  a 
Chinese  lady  some  far-off  day.  So 
one  night,  — just  the  night  before 

109 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

Easter,  —  after  she  had  fallen  asleep 
on  her  couch  of  bamboo,  she  dreamed 
a  dream  as  beautiful  as  a  poor  child 
—  a  child  of  a  coolie  even  might 
dream,  for  dreams  are  free  to  all,  rich 
and  poor.  Perhaps  it  was  because 
she  had  gone  to  sleep  wondering  if 
her  house  would  be  visited  by  the 
Easter  rabbit,  of  which  an  American 
friend  had  told  her ;  perhaps  —  but 
then,  it  does  not  matter  what  the 
reason  was,  for  suddenly  she  felt 
some  soft  little  taps  on  her  eyelids, 
and  a  warm  breath  fanned  her  cheek, 
and  opening  her  eyes  she  beheld  the 
dearest,  cunningest  little  rabbit  —  a 
white  one,  with  bright  pink  eyes.  It 
was  perched  on  the  edge  of  her  bed, 
and  had  awakened  her  by  tapping  her 
Oriental  eyelids  with  its  soft  white 
paws.  It  looked  so  gentle  that  she 
no 


The  Easter  Dream  of  Mun  Ghee 

loved  it  right  away,  and  said :    "  Who 
are  you  ? " 

It  replied  in  a  tiny  voice :  "  If  it 
please  your  highness,  I  am  the  queen 
of  the  Easter  rabbits ;  I  thought  you 
might  like  to  go  with  me  for  a  little 
visit  to  my  realm,  the  beautiful  Easter- 
land." 

"  Oh,  I  likee  go,"  said  Mun  Chee. 
"  It  must  be  all  light  to  visit  a  queen. 
Yes,  yes,  I  will  go,  but  how  ?  ' 

«  Trust  to  me,  and  you  shall  arrive 
safely ;  I  will  carry  you  on  my  back." 

"  You  ?  Why,  you  too  small ;  I 
such  a  big  girl;  you  no  can  cally 
me." 

"Wait  and  see  ! "  said  Queen  Bunny, 
and  with  that  she  began  to  grow  and 
grow  and  grow,  right  before  Mun 
Ghee's  astonished  eyes,  and  pretty  soon 
she  was  as  big  as  a  horse. 

in 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

"  Oh,    how    could     you    do    it  ?  ' 
gasped   the   little   Chinese  girl. 

«  Because  I  am  in  league  with  the 
fairies,  and  have  all  power,"  the  queen 
said.  "  Jump  on  my  back,  if  it  please 
your  ladyship,  and  we  will  hasten 
away." 

She  jumped  gracefully  to  the  back 
of  the  rabbit,  and  clasped  her  plump 
arms  tightly  around  its  neck.  They 
bounded  up,  up,  until  they  were  so 
high  in  the  air  that  they  could  not 
see  the  world  below. 

"  I  neveh  knew  that  labbits  could 
fly,"  said  she. 

"  Well,  all  rabbits  cannot  fly,"  said 
the  queen,  "  only  those  of  royal 
blood.  There  are  rabbits  and  rab- 
bits, you  know,  just  as  there  are 
people  and  people.  My  sceptre  is 
a  white  Easter  lily,  and  whoever  it 

I  12 


"The  Easter  Dream  of  Mun  Ghee 

touches  is  at  once  possessed  of  un- 
limited power." 

Now  they  came  to  the  land  of  the 
birds,  where  they  were  fairly  intoxi- 
cated with  the  beautiful  music  thrill- 
ing from  the  throats  of  these  feathered 
songsters.  Some  of  the  trees  were 
bright  blue,  and  were  filled  with  all 
kinds  of  blue  birds;  then  a  yellow 
tree,  something  like  the  acacia,  was 
filled  with  canaries,  making  the  air 
fairly  alive  with  song.  So  they  floated 
on,  until  the  songs  of  the  birds  were 
but  an  echo. 

Then  came  Candy-land.  My!  how 
good  it  smelled  in  this  wonderful 
place — all  pepper-minty  and  nice! 
and  what  a  variety  of  trees  there 
were  —  some  big,  big  trees,  just  full 
of  Chinese  preserved  ginger!  and  how 
Mun  Chee  did  long  to  put  her  strong 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

white  teeth  into  some  of  it !  Then 
there  were  trees  so  soft  and  white 
that  they  looked  almost  as  if  they 
were  covered  with  snow ;  but  it 
really  was  only  white  marsh-mallows. 
Then  there  were  tiny  Chinese  fairies 
running  all  around,  pulling  bon-bons 
apart,  and  squealing  with  delight 
when  they  popped. 

Then  came  Monkey-land,  and  this 
was  the  funniest  of  all,  and  even 
made  a  little  Chinese  girl  laugh. 
Some  of  them  were  playing  a  game 
of  base-ball  with  cocoanuts,  and  Mun 
Chee  was  all  the  time  afraid  one  of 
them  would  get  hit  in  the  head ;  but 
they  seemed  to  know  just  how  to 
avoid  that.  Some  of  them  ran  up 
and  asked  her  to  stay  to  dinner  with 
them,  and  then,  when  they  thought 
she  was  not  looking,  they  made  such 

114 


The  Raster  Dream  of  Mun  Ghee 

horrible  faces  at  her  that  she  was  glad 
she  had  not  accepted  their  invitation. 
After  she  had  watched  several  games 
she  hurried  on  again,  looking  back 
once,  to  see  some  of  the  monkeys 
throwing  kisses  at  her  and  others 
making  the  ugliest  faces.  That 
might  have  been  their  way  of  being 
polite,  though  she  really  could  not 
say,  as  she  was  not  up  in  the  etiquette 
of  monkeys. 

Next  came  the  land  of  bears. 
There  were  all  kinds, — black,  brown, 
and  white.  She  was  scared  at  first, 
but  the  rabbit  queen  assured  her  they 
were  harmless,  and  warranted  not  to 
hug.  They  were  dancing  some  kind 
of  a  queer  dance,  and  one  silky  white 
one,  that  looked  just  like  a  rug  she 
had  at  home,  came  and  asked  if  the 
little  celestial  aristocrat  would  honor 

"5 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

him  with  the  next  dance.  A  look 
from  the  eyes  of  Queen  Bunny  told 
her  she  had  better  accept,  and  she  did 
so,  smiling  graciously  upon  the  bear. 
Around  they  went,  in  a  giddy  whirl, 
her  queue  flying  in  the  wind,  until 
it  seemed  to  Mun  Chee  that  every- 
thing was  going  around  with  them, 
and  she  panted:  "If  it's  just  the 
same  to  you,  I  'd  rather  sit  out  the 
rest  of  this  dance." 

"  Certainly,  your  highness,"  growled 
old  bruin,  and  when  she  was  seated  he 
brought  her  a  dish  of  sweetened  snow- 
balls, which  were  quite  refreshing. 

When  she  told  them  good-by  this 
same  bear  could  not  resist  the  tempta- 
tion of  giving  her  just  a  teeny-weeny 
hug,  but  it  did  n't  hurt,  and  she  was 
quite  sure  he  meant  it  as  a  mark  of 
especial  favor. 

116 


The  Raster  Dream  of  Mun  Ghee 

Next  came  the  land  of  cats.  Each 
land  had  its  queen,  and  here  it  was 
Queen  Malta,  an  immense  maltese 
cat  with  large,  yellow  eyes.  Such  a 
purring  as  they  made  when  they  saw 
Mun  Chee  and  Queen  Bunny  ap- 
proaching !  It  was  not  often  they 
were  honored  by  royalty.  The  queen 
approached  them,  walking  on  her 
hind  legs,  her  long  silky  tail  held  by 
a  page,  —  a  tiny  white  kitten,  dressed 
in  gauze  and  spangles. 

"  In  what  way  shall  it  please  your 
gracious  majesties  to  be  entertained?" 
said  Queen  Malta;  but  to  any  one  else 
it  would  have  sounded  like  "Miaouw 
—  miaouw  —  miaouw  —  " 

Mun  Chee  replied  :   "  I  likee  some 


music." 


Thereupon    the    queen    tapped    a 
silver  bell,  and  there  sprang  lightly 

117 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

into  view  a  perfect  chorus  of  the 
most  beautiful  cats.  After  curtsey- 
ing to  the  royal  guests  they  began 
the  music,  and  they  sang  the  funni- 
est songs  imaginable.  Mun  Chee 
laughed  till  her  little  sides  ached, 
but  when  she  applauded,  the  noise 
scared  away  all  the  cats,  and  they 
scampered  off,  regardless  of  good 
manners.  Queen  Malta  called  them 
back,  and  explained  matters,  how- 
ever, and  the  program  was  carried 
out  without  any  further  commotion. 
Mun  Chee  would  like  to  have  lin- 
gered for  quite  a  while  in  each  of 
these  strange  countries,  but  Queen 
Bunny  told  her  it  was  approaching 
the  hour  when  they  were  expected 
at  the  Easter  castle,  and  so,  after  a 
few  more  swift  turns  through  the  air, 
they  began  to  descend  softly,  softly, 
118 


The  Raster  Dream  of  Mun  Ghee 

until  faint  strains  of  music  fell   upon 
their  ears. 

It  was  a  triumphant  march  of  wel- 
come, and  the  notes  rose  glad  and 
high.  Soon  Mun  Ghee  felt  her  feet 
touch  the  soft  grass,  and  unclasping 
her  arms  from  about  the  rabbit's 
neck,  she  stood  and  gazed  about  her 
in  a  perfect  bewilderment  of  rapture. 
This  was  so  different  from  any  of 
the  other  countries  ;  everywhere  the 
eye  rested  upon  the  soft  green  tracery 
of  leaves  and  trees,  great  beds  of 
delicate  fern,  and  flowers  of  every 
hue.  Through  an  avenue  of  tall, 
waxen  Easter  lilies  she  was  conducted 
by  two  tiny  white  rabbits,  and 
as  they  walked,  a  glorious  anthem 
sounded  from  all  the  great  Easter 
lilies,  and  the  golden  clappers  clanged 
musically  against  their  satin  whiteness. 

119 


Lit  fie  Almond  Blossoms 

All  the  while  there  was  a  strange 
and  wonderful  perfume  filling  the 
air,  even  sweeter  than  the  scent  of 
the  punks  burned  before  the  joss  in 
the  temple.  Some  of  the  lilies  bent 
down  and  kissed  the  dear  little  Chi- 
nese maiden  as  she  passed,  and  their 
breath  was  sweeter  than  any  per- 
fume. After  being  royally  enter- 
tained in  the  palace  of  pure  white 
pearl  the  child  was  conducted  into 
the  queen's  garden,  where  a  feast 
was  spread  under  the  shade  of  some 
tall  ferns.  Being  seated,  they  were 
served  to  delicious  tea,  in  dainty 
cups,  shaped  like  Easter  lilies.  Many 
good  things  were  placed  before  the 
little  girl,  who  was  very  hungry,  after 
her  long  flight  through  the  air,  and 
nothing  in  her  own  home  had  ever 
tasted  half  so  good  as  did  these 

120 


The  Raster  Dream  of  Mun  Chee 

dishes  served  by  the  dear  little  white 
rabbits. 

After  much  chatting  and  laughing 
the  strange  meal  was  ended,  and  the 
rabbit  queen  presented  Mun  Chee 
with  a  large  basket  of  pearl  and  silver, 
lined  with  blue  and  yellow,  the  colors 
of  the  Imperial  Court  of  China,  and 
announced  that  they  would  now  start 
out  in  search  of  Easter  eggs.  "Oh, 
what  fun!"  said  Mun  Chee,  clapping 
her  hands  for  joy.  A  white  rabbit 
page  went  by  her  side,  and  carried 
her  basket.  Soon  they  came  to  a 
dense  forest  of  fern,  and  Mun  Chee 
heard  a  high,  squeaky  voice  saying: 

"  Search  for  the  one  with  long,  long  legs, 
And  you  may  find  some  Easter  eggs." 

"How  queer!'  thought  Mun 
Chee,  « to  tell  me  about  it.  Well, 

121 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

if  it  has  velly  long  legs  I  betteh  quit 
looking  on  the  glound,  and  look 
up."  She  did  so,  and  away  back 
among  the  ferns  she  saw  some  funny 
bright  eyes  peeping  at  her. 

"Why,  it  is  a  stok "  (stork),  she 
exclaimed. 

With  that  the  stork  came  forward, 
and  extended  a  long  claw  in  greet- 
ing, and,  pointing  to  a  large  nest 
artfully  concealed  among  the  ferns, 
he  said:  "You  may  take  what  you 
see,  and  welcome." 

"Oh,  thank  you!"  she  said,  and 
taking  several  of  the  very  large  eggs, 
placed  them  carefully  in  her  basket. 

"Oh,  they  won't  break,"  said  Queen 
Bunny.  "The  eggs  in  Easter-land 
are  warranted  not  to  break." 

And  now  the  soft  trill  of  a  canary 
rippled  from  a  tree,  —  a  tiny  tree, 

122 


The  Easter  Dream  of  Mun  Ghee 

that  a  child  could  easily  reach.  Sure 

enough,  there  was  the  dearest  little 

canary,    perched   on   a  branch,  sing- 
ing sweetly, — 

"  Come  and  see !  come  and  see, 
What  Canary  has  for  thee." 

There  in  the  little  nest  were  a  lot 
of  the  tiniest  eggs,  and  all  bright 
yellow,  just  the  color  of  Mrs.  Canary 
herself. 

"Oh,  you  gentle  little  thing  — 
you  so  good  to  give  me  youh  cun- 
ning little  eggs." 

"Don't  mention  it!"    said  Canary. 

Then  a  white  dove  cooed  from  its 
house  near  by, — 

"  Coo-coo,  you  are  true, 
^  •         Come  and  take  my  gift  for  you." 

Her  gift  was  six  eggs,  pure  white, 
with  just  the  tiniest  little  pink  polka- 

123 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

dots  in  them.  While  she  was  admir- 
ing them  she  heard  a  gentle  purr, 
which  seemed  to  come  from  the 
ground  under  her  feet,  and  looking 
down  she  saw  peeping  from  a  moss- 
lined  hole  in  the  ground  a  pair  of 
pink  eyes,  and  a  white,  soft  paw,  as  the 
voice  of  this  Easter  rabbit  purred,  — 

"  Put  your  hand  into  the  ground, 
And  find  what  no  one  else  has  found/' 

"Well,  I  likee  find  what  no  one 
else  has  found,"  she  said;  and  putting 
her  hand  into  the  moss-lined  nest, 
she  drew  out  —  not  an  egg,  as  she 
had  expected,  but  six  of  the  tiniest 
baby  rabbits,  no  bigger  than  her 
thumb. 

"  Oh,  you  cunning  little  babies ! 
You  shall  go  and  live  with  me,"  said 
Mun  Chee;  and  thanking  the  Easter 

124 


The  Raster  Dream  of  Mun  Chee 

rabbit,  she  passed  on  to  the  home 
of  a  blue-bird,  on  a  swinging  bough, 
and  heard  her  singing, — 

"  Roses  red,  my  eggs  are  blue, 
Come !  and  I  will  give  you  two." 

What  a  beautiful  blue  they  were, 
to  be  sure  !  just  like  the  sky.  Then 
a  loud  cackling  fell  upon  her  ear,  and 
she  could  distinguish  the  words,  — 

"  If  you  will  give  me  a  piece  of  bread 
I  '11  bring  you  some  eggs,  all  bright  and  red." 

She  saw  that  the  queer  voice  came 
from  a  bright  red  little  hen,  who  gave 
her  some  beautiful  eggs  when  she  had 
given  the  bread. 

.Following  the  sound  of  a  sharp 
voice  she  walked  along  the  path  until 
she  came  to  a  most  beautiful  pea- 
cock, gorgeous  in  the  spread  of  its 
wonderful  plumage. 


Liittle  Almond  Blossoms 

This  pleased  her  more  than  any  of 
the  others,  because  the  peacock  feather 
is  sacred  to  the  Chinese,  and  is  used 
in  their  temples  where  they  pray  to 
the  joss.  The  peacock's  offering  was 
a  very  large  bunch  of  these  brilliant 
feathers,  to  take  to  her  mo  chun,  while 
it  said  in  a  queer,  sharp  voice, — 

"  It  matters  not,  my  little  one,  how  stormy  is 

the  weather ; 

The  joss  will  always  care  for  those  who  have 
a  peacock  feather." 

"  Now  for  the  last  place,"  said 
Queen  Bunny;  and  following  the 
sound  of  a  terrible  screeching  noise, 
they  climbed  a  ladder  into  a  tall  tree, 
and  there  was  a  beautiful  American 
eagle.  It  was  not  cross  a  bit,  as 
eagles  usually  are,  but  was  singing, — 

"  The  gift  I  have,  little  girl,  for  you 
Is  three  big  eggs  —  red,  white,  and  blue." 

126 


The  Easter  Dream  of  Mun  Chee 

It  seemed  to  Mun  Chee  that  the 
best  came  last,  for  these  were  such 
beautiful  eggs,  and  so  different  from 
any  of  the  others.  Her  basket  was 
quite  full  now,  and  as  she  saw  the 
shade  growing  more  dense  beneath 
the  trees  she  thought  it  must  be 
quite  time  for  her  to  return  to  her 
own  home.  So,  after  bidding  good-by 
to  all  the  royal  company  of  white 
rabbits,  and  having  her  arms  filled 
with  the  fragrant  China  lilies,  she 
sprang  upon  the  queen's  back  once 
more,  and  sped  away  —  away  —  far 
from  the  Easter  palace  —  the  palace 
of  a  dream. 


127 


PING   PONG   AND   PING   YET 


PING  PONG 
AND  PING 

PING  PONG  was  not  a  game, 
but  a  dear  little  Chinese  boy, 
who  was  eagerly  looking  for- 
ward to  something  which  was  almost 
like  an  American  Christmas.  The 
Chinese  do  not  have  any  Christmas, 
but  they  have  something  else  which 
serves  the  purpose,  as  far  as  their 
eager  little  hearts  are  concerned,  and 
that  is,  the  Festival  of  the  Moon. 
Ping  Pong's  round,  fat,  and  very  dirty 
face  looked  something  like  a  moon 
as  he  leaned  over  the  counter  in  his 
father's  drug  store,  and  watched  him 
weigh  and  mix  portions  of  dried 
lizards  and  snakes  for  his  customers ; 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

for  the  Chinese  use  dried  lizards  and 
snakes,  and  all  sorts  of  funny  things, 
for  medicine. 

It  would  seem  so  very  queer  to 
an  American  child,  but  it  did  not 
strike  little  Ping  Pong  as  being  at 
all  out  of  the  way,  and  he  would 
probably  have  thought  it  just  as 
strange  to  know  that  people  took 
powders  and  pills.  He  thought  when 
he  grew  up  to  be  a  "  velly  big  man ' 
like  his  father,  he  would  either  be  a 
druggist  or  a  highbinder,  or  better 
still  he  might  be  both ;  yet,  a  high- 
binder was  one  who  always  sought 
a  way  of  killing  people  he  did  not 
like,  and  a  druggist  sometimes  killed 
people  he  really  did  like,  —  but  that 
was  always  through  mistake,  of  course. 

Ping  Pong  and  his  dear  little  sister 
Ping    Yet    were    teasing    the    good- 

132 


Ping  Pong  and  Ping  Tet 

natured  father  to  take  them  to  the 
joss  house.  That  was  indeed  a  queer 
idea.  Why  should  two  children 
wish  to  go  to  the  temple  to  pray  to 
the  joss?  Surely  the  father  could 
pray  enough  for  himself  and  his 
family,  too.  But  he  never  liked 
to  refuse  any  reasonable  request  of 
his  children,  so  he  asked  advice  of 
the  little  mother,  who  was  engaged 
in  some  very  mysterious  occupation 
which  compelled  her  to  keep  the 
kitchen  door  locked.  Mo  chun 
opened  the  door  cautiously,  and, 
peeping  out,  whispered  to  ho  chun> 
who  smiled  in  a  peculiar  way. 
"What  foh  you  likee  go  joss  house, 
you  hai  tongs  f  (babies),  she  now 
asked,  and  Ping  Pong  replied  :  "  We 
likee  play  to  good  joss  to  bling  us 
pletty  moon-cakes." 

*33 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

The  mother  had  to  giggle  at  that, 
in  her  dear  little  Chinese  way,  for 
she  knew  a  good  deal  about  moon- 
cakes,  and  knew  about  the  white 
rabbit.  But  she  was  not  going  to 
tell  all  she  knew,  just  now,  so  she 
only  smiled  in  her  sweet  mother 
way,  and  gave  her  consent  to  their 
going. 

It  was  just  getting  dark  when 
they  left,  and  the  proud  father  started 
out  to  the  joss  house  with  a  happy 
child  on  each  side  of  him,  and  two 
small  brown  hands  clasped  tightly  in 
his  big  brown  ones.  They  had  never 
been  to  the  temple  before,  but  they 
had  heard  it  was  a  very  good  thing 
to  do  when  one  wanted  anything 
very  badly. 

"  How  pletty  the  big  dlagon  lan- 
tehns  look  !  "  they  exclaimed. 


Ping  Pong  and  Ping  Yet 

Yes,  the  big  lanterns  did  indeed 
look  pretty,  as  they  gleamed  and 
swayed  in  front  of  every  door  in  the 
big  Chinatown  of  San  Francisco,  and 
looked  like  big  golden  moons,  al- 
most as  big  as  the  moon  in  which 
the  white  rabbit  lived.  The  streets 
were  very  gay  at  this  season,  and  the 
shops  were  full  of  people  buying 
gifts. 

Little  Ping  Yet  made  a  very  pretty 
picture  as  she  shyly  patted  down  the 
narrow  streets  with  her  embroidered 
sandals,  wide  silken  trousers,  and 
blue  silk  blouse  richly  embroidered 
by  the  loving  fingers  of  her  dear  mo 
chun.  Her  polished  hair  was  done 
in  a  queue. 

The  moon  rabbit  must  surely  have 
passed  this  way,  for  the  windows  were 
all  full  of  little  cakes  shaped  like  the 

135 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

moon.  They  thought  that  all  the 
year,  while  they  were  flying  kites, 
popping  fire-crackers,  and  playing  in 
the  street  in  front  of  their  home,  the 
white  rabbit  must  be  always  pound- 
ing rice. 

It  took  them  a  very  long  time  to 
get  to  the  joss  house,  because  there 
were  so  many  interesting  things  on 
the  way.  Ping  Pong,  in  boyish  eager- 
ness, pressed  his  little  nose  and  dirty 
fingers  right  up  against  the  glass  in 
one  place,  or  at  least  he  thought  it 
was  the  glass,  until  he  fell  right  in, 
with  his  nose  on  a  candy  pagoda 
thirteen  stories  high,  and  then  he 
found  out  his  mistake.  That  glass 
happened  to  be  broken  out,  and  he 
was  very  much  embarrassed.  The 
gingerbread  peacock  seemed  to  glare 
scornfully  at  him  as  his  ho  chun  pulled 

136 


Ping  Pong  and  Ping  Yet 

him  out,  and  the  painted  gods  and 
goddesses  seemed  to  smile  on  him  in 
a  pitying  way. 

Little  Ping  Yet  was  as  much 
ashamed  as  if  she  herself  had  fallen 
with  her  nose  on  a  Chinese  pagoda, 
and  she  hid  her  face  with  her  wide 
silken  sleeves.  But  the  shop-keeper 
was  good  natured  and  said,  with  a 
kindly  pat  of  the  button  on  top  of 
Ping  Pong's  round  Chinese  cap, 
«  Neveh  mind!  that's  all  light;  you 
heap  good  samen  jai  and  ne  jai  (boy 
and  girl).  I  hope  you  get  heap 
plenty  moon-cake  flom  the  white 
labbit." 

They  wandered  on  in  happy  aban- 
don, until  they  reached  the  long 
steps,  which,  ho  chun  informed  them, 
led  up  to  the  temple  of  the  good 
Joss.  They  had  so  often  wondered 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

what  the  joss  looked  like;  was  he  a 
big  rabbit,  or  a  peacock,  or  perhaps 
a  dragon  with  scaly  sides  and  spit- 
ting fire  ?  They  secretly  hoped,  in 
their  innocent  little  hearts,  that  if  it 
was  a  « dlagon v  he  would  refrain 
from  spitting  fire  while  they  were 
there.  When  they  thought  of  what 
might  await  them,  they  were  almost 
sorry  they  had  come,  and  their  timid 
little  hearts  beat  fearfully  against  their 
blouses;  but  the  touch  of  ho  chun  s 
strong  hand  was  reassuring,  and  they 
reflected  that  surely  there  could  be 
nothing  so  very  dreadful  up  there,  or 
he  would  not  have  taken  them. 

First  they  passed  through  a  room 
where  some  Chinamen  were  selling 
long  narrow  red-paper  packages  of 
incense  sticks.  Ho  chun  bought  one, 
and  the  men  spoke  kindly  to  the 

138 


Ping  Pong  and  Ping  Yet 

boy  and  girl,  and  they  passed  on. 
Up  another  flight  of  steps  they  went, 
until  it  seemed  as  if  they  must  be 
almost  as  high  up  as  the  moon.  A 
strong  odor  of  incense  greeted  their 
nostrils,  and  it  seemed  good,  for 
they  were  accustomed  to  it,  as  it 
was  always  burning  at  home  before 
the  different  gods  and  ancestral 
tablets. 

The  odor  grew  stronger,  and  they 
heard  some  one  beating  the  big 
gong.  Soon  they  had  placed  their 
sandalled  feet  upon  the  last  step, 
and  their  oblique  eyes  were  fairly 
dazzled  with  the  sparkle  and  beauty 
of  it  all. 

"  Where  joss  ?  I  likee  see  him," 
they  both  exclaimed  in  awed  whis- 
pers, while  ho  chun  pointed  to  the 
gaudy  altar,  gay  with  its  brass  carv- 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

ings  and  rosettes  of  red  paper.  Bright 
peacock  feathers  were  plentiful,  and 
seemed  to  stare  at  them  with  a  thou- 
sand eyes.  Back  of  it  all,  in  a  shel- 
tered recess,  was  the  joss.  They 
heaved  a  sigh  of  relief  that  he  was 
not  a  dragon.  An  American  child 
would  have  thought  him  perfectly 
hideous,  but  the  Chinese  children 
have  such  different  ideas,  and  they 
exclaimed  rapturously,  "  Oh,  velly 
pletty  joss  !  heap  fine  god ;  me 
likee." 

Perhaps  they  thought  it  best  to 
say  very  nice  things  of  him  in  his 
presence,  however,  because  it  would 
never  do  to  offend  him,  or  he  might 
not  allow  the  white  "  labbit "  to  visit 
them.  So  they  ventured  quite  near, 
and  spoke  in  tones  he  could  not  fail 
to  hear. 

140 


Ping  Pong  and  Ping  Tet 

After  a  whispered  consultation  with 
ho  chun  they  opened  the  pretty  red- 
paper  package,  and  each  took  from 
it  two  incense  sticks,  and  their  father 
having  lighted  them,  the  children 
waved  them  several  times  right  under 
the  nose  of  the  great  and  high  one, 
and  bowed  their  little  heads  to  the 
floor  a  great  many  times,  meanwhile 
asking  in  their  innocent  little  way  that 
the  good  joss  would  please  make  the 
white  rabbit  bring  them  something 
nice.  When  they  had  finished,  they 
placed  the  rest  of  the  incense  sticks 
in  the  great  brass  urn  in  front  of  the 
joss,  and  the  sacred  ashes  fell  down 
and  helped  to  fill  it  up.  Every  time 
they  had  bowed  their  heads  the  big 
gong  had  been  beaten,  and  at  first 
the  noise  had  frightened  them,  but 
finally  they  grew  to  like  it. 

141 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

Ho  chun  thought  that  while  they 
were  there,  they  had  better  try  throw- 
ing the  fortune  sticks,  as  he  knew  it 
would  please  them,  so  he  picked  up 
a  tall  round  box,  full  of  bamboo 
sticks,  and  explained  it  to  them. 
They  first  asked  the  joss  "Will  we 
get  any  moon-cakes  ? '  Then  each 
in  turn  took  the  box  and  shook  it 
until  one  stick  fell  out,  when  they 
picked  it  up,  and  ho  chun  read  the 
Chinese  number  on  it,  then  looked 
in  a  book  and  found  out  what  that 
number  said.  Fortunately  the  an- 
swer was  favorable,  and  they  felt 
happy  now.  That  meant  that  they 
might  really  expect  some  gift  from 
the  moon  rabbit. 

Before  going  home  they  all  stepped 
out  on  the  beautiful  balcony  on 
which  were  swinging  the  biggest  lan- 


Ping  Pong  and  Ping  Tet 

terns  they  had  ever  seen,  and  they 
leaned  over  the  edge,  where  there 
were  great  pots  of  the  pretty  China 
lily  in  blossom,  with  red  papers  tied 
around  the  stems,  and  looked  at  the 
hundreds  of  people  passing  below 
them.  The  grown-up  people  all  had 
their  arms  full  of  bundles,  and  little 
three-cornered  brown  paper  parcels. 
All  was  noisy  and  happy  and  bright, 
because  it  was  the  eve  of  the  Moon 
Festival,  and  the  shopping  must  all  be 
done  before  the  rabbit  should  come. 

Down  the  long  steps  they  went 
again,  and  into  the  crowded  street, 
where  all  was  joy  and  delight,  and 
mysterious  whispering. 

«  Oh,  that  pletty  pagoda  !  *  said 
Ping  Pong,  "  I  so  'flaid  the  labbit  no 
bling  me  pagoda,  I  think  ho  chun 
betteh  get." 

'43 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

Ho  chun  laughed  and  said,  "  No ! 
I  wait  and  see  if  the  labbit  come,  I 
think  bimeby  he  come  and  bling 
pagoda ;  I  no  can  tell  —  we  wait 
and  see." 

But  what  if  he  should  forget  to 
bring  one  ?  and  they  were  such  beau- 
tiful pagodas,  and  all  made  of  candy. 
The  little  round  faces  were  sober  for 
a  while,  thinking  how  very  dreadful 
it  would  be  if,  after  all,  the  rabbit 
did  not  come,  or,  if  he  did  come, 
and  should  forget  to  bring  the  much- 
desired  pagoda. 

They  were  very  tired  when  at  last 
they  reached  their  home,  over  which 
gleamed  the  big  golden  Chinese  let- 
ters of  welcome,  and  in  a  little  bowl 
beside  the  door  burned  the  punk 
sticks,  day  and  night,  to  keep  the 
evil  spirits  from  entering  their  home. 

144 


Ping  Pong  and  Ping  Yet 

Their  tired  little  legs  could  hardly 
climb  the  stairs,  but  at  last  they  were 
there,  and  had  tumbled  into  the 
mother's  loving  arms,  and  had  been 
kissed  and  questioned  thoroughly. 

Mo  chun  was  really  astonished  to 
hear  of  the  glorious  time  they  had 
enjoyed,  and  of  the  many  wonders 
they  had  seen.  When  they  men- 
tioned the  pagoda  she  was  suddenly 
seized  with  the  giggles,  and  her  laugh- 
ter was  so  merry  and  contagious 
that  they  all  laughed  till  their  sides 
ached,  though  the  children  could  not 
have  told  why  they  laughed.  The 
mother  and  father  knew  why,  but 
they  would  not  tell.  The  hour  had 
come,  and  indeed  it  was  long  past 
the  hour  when  they  should  have 
gone  to  bed,  but  then  the  beautiful 
Moon  Festival  came  only  once  a  year, 

145 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

and  so  they  might  be  allowed  a  few 
privileges.  They  were  finally  asleep 
on  their  beds  of  matting,  and  the 
mother  looked  tenderly  at  the  rosy 
little  faces  as  she  went  into  the 
kitchen  —  the  kitchen  which  for 
some  reason  had  been  locked  all 
day. 

Well,  morning  came  at  last,  as 
it  always  does,  and  before  the  sun 
was  up  Ping  Pong  and  his  sister 
jumped  out  of  bed,  exclaiming: 
"  Oh,  mo  chuny  has  the  white  labbit 
been?"  ?  ' 

Oh,  what  were  all  those  beautiful 
things  on  the  table  ?  Why,  the  whole 
room  was  changed.  When  they  had 
gone  to  bed  the  night  before,  there 
was  nothing  there  but  just  the  things 
that  belonged  in  the  room,  and  now 
— and  now —  The  white  rabbit  had 

146 


There  was  a  big  bouquet  for  Ping  Pong 


Ping  Pong  and  Ping  Tet 

surely  been  here,  for  the  table  was 
covered  with  the  most  beautiful  gifts 
they  had  ever  seen, —  lots  of  cunning 
little  moon-cakes,  sprinkled  with 
poppy  and  caraway  seed;  and  some 
like  a  horse  and  a  cow,  and  all  sorts 
of  funny  animals.  And  there  was  a 
big  bouquet  for  Ping  Pong,  because 
it  was  his  birthday  too. 

There  were  also  some  big  candy 
dragons,  with  great  staring  eyes,  but 
now,  instead  of  the  dragons  eating 
them,  they  were  going  to  eat  the 
dragons.  My  !  what  fun  that  would 
be!  and  they  could  not  wait,  but 
planted  their  strong  white  teeth 
in  the  white  heads,  and  bit  them 
off.  My !  how  sweet  they  were  ! 
so  sweet  that  their  bodies  went  next, 
and  soon  there  were  no  dragons 
at  all. 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

There  were  all  kinds  of  gaudily 
painted  toys  of  clay,  and  little  Ping 
Yet's  dancing  eyes  danced  more  than 
ever,  and  she  fairly  rippled  over  with 
smiles  when  she  saw,  sticking  out  of  a 
bright  red  pair  of  embroidered  san- 
dals, a  real  Chinese  doll.  It  looked 
very  much  like  Ping  Yet  herself,  with 
its  bright  black  eyes,  rosy  cheeks, 
and  coal-black  hair.  She  thought  it 
surely  must  be  the  most  beautiful 
thing  in  the  whole  big  world,  but 
mo  chun  said  she  knew  something 
more  beautiful.  The  little  one  won- 
dered vaguely  what  it  could  be,  and 
how  anything  could  be  more  beauti- 
ful, but  she  was  too  busy  to  wonder 
long,  for  Ping  Pong  had  uttered  such 
a  shriek  of  delight  that  she  almost 
jumped  out  of  her  little  sandals. 
What  could  be  the  matter  ? 

148 


Ping  Pong  and  Ping  Yet 

"What  foh  you  cly  ?  you  buhn 
youh  fingeh  ?  '  she  cried  ;  and  he  in 
reply  pointed  to  the  cause  of  all  his 
excitement ;  it  was  —  oh,  joy  !  —  a 
pagoda,  and  mo  chun  said : 

"  The  dragon  pagoda  it  touches  the  sky  ; 
The  dragon  pagoda,  thirteen  stories  high." 

It  was  just  exactly  like  the  one 
they  had  asked  ho  chun  to  buy, 
and  the  dear  white  rabbit  in  the 
moon  must  have  seen  right  down 
into  their  minds  and  brought  what 
they  wished.  And  oh,  they  were 
so  glad  now  that  they  had  gone  to 
the  joss  house,  and  burned  the  in- 
cense and  thrown  the  fortune  sticks, 
for  if  they  had  not  —  who  knows  ? 
—  the  white  rabbit  might  have  for- 
gotten them. 

149 


THE  LITTLE  ALMOND  BLOSSOM 


THE 

ALMOND   BLOSSOM  ; 

MO     CHUN    called    her    the 
little  Almond    Blossom,  as 
she  was  so  bright  and  beau- 
tiful, and  she  loved  her  so.      Her  real 
name  was    Gum    Sing,   and   she  was, 
so   the  mother  thought,  the  prettiest 
thing  in    all    the   big  Chinatown  of 
San  Francisco. 

Gum  Sing's  father  kept  a  store, 
where  they  sold  all  sorts  of  fine 
china  and  silk.  She  often  went  to 
her  father's  store,  but  never  alone. 
Oh,  no  !  she  was  too  precious  to  be 
trusted  out  alone,  and  then  she  was 
too  young  to  find  her  way  through 
the  winding  streets,  and  the  doors  all 

J53 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

looked  alike  to  her,  so  the  mo  chun 
or  the  nurse  always  accompanied 
her. 

Gum  Sing  had  such  a  round,  dim- 
pled face,  and  there  always  seemed 
to  be  kisses  lurking  in  the  dimples. 
And  she  had  the  merriest  little  laugh, 
—  just  like  music  to  her  mother. 
It  was  not  enough  for  mo  chun  to  see 
this  little  face  every  day,  and  to  sleep 
on  the  hard  pillow  with  it  at  night. 
No,  that  was  not  enough,  for  how 
could  any  one  ever  have  enough  of 
so  fair  a  thing  ?  So  the  father  and 
mother  agreed  that  their  little  Al- 
mond Blossom  must  have  her  picture 
taken.  That  was  a  great  day  in  the 
house  of  Gum.  Such  an  event  had 
never  happened  before. 

Now  Gum  Sing  did  not  know  at 
all  what  it  meant  to  have  her  picture 

154 


The  Little  Almond  Blossom 

taken,  but  she  knew  by  the  smiles 
on  her  mother's  face,  and  by  the 
careful  and  proud  manner  in  which 
she  was  being  arrayed,  that  it  could 
be  no  small  thing,  and  that  some 
way  or  other  she  was  expected  to 
look  as  beautiful  and  as  much  like 
the  almond  flower  as  she  could,  as 
that  was  sacred  to  the  Chinese. 

With  delight  she  saw  that  she  was 
to  wear  her  lavender  silk  blouse. 
"  Oh,  mo  chun"  she  giggled,  "  I  likee 
wear  ho  chuns  big  gold  watch." 

Now,  although  the  little  mother 
did  not  think  it  just  exactly  the 
proper  thing  for  any  one  so  tiny  as 
Gum  Sing  to  wear  a  watch  and  chain, 
yet  this  was  such  an  important  event 
—  and  such  a  proud  moment  for 
her  —  that  she  could  see  no  harm 
in  letting  her  have  her  way  about  it 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

this  time.  She  insisted  upon  carry- 
ing mo  chuns  big  fan,  too,  and  it  cer- 
tainly did  look  very  wonderful  to  see 
it  clasped  in  the  tiny  brown  hand. 

The  trousers  of  pink  silk  were  so 
bright  and  pretty,  and  the  dainty 
little  sandals  had  been  embroidered 
by  mo  chun  herself. 

When  all  was  ready,  ho  chun  ap- 
peared on  the  scene,  and  the  happy 
party  started  out  for  the  photograph 
gallery  of  Hen  Yin  Gock. 

"  I  so  happy — I  so  glad,"  giggled 
the  little  Gum  Sing,  not  knowing  just 
what  she  was  happy  about,  only  she 
was  such  a  happy  little  thing  always, 
and  being  the  only  child  had  so 
much  love  given  her.  At  last  they 
reached  the  place.  There  did  not 
seem  to  be  anything  wonderful  about 
it.  There  was  a  window  with  a  lot 


The  Little  Almond  Blossom 

of  pictures  in  it,  and  a  crowd  of 
Chinamen  were  jostling  each  other 
to  see  them.  Then  they  ascended  the 
stairway  and  rapped  on  the  door,  and 
some  one  called  out  in  Chinese,  "  Tap 
loi  le"  which  means  "  Come  in." 

They  went  in,  and  the  man  talked 
to  them  pleasantly,  but  when  he  went 
and  put  his  head  under  a  black  cur- 
tain on  some  kind  of  a  box,  then 
Gum  Sing  thought  it  was  time  to 
complain.  This  was  too  much ! 
She  cried :  "  Mo  chun  —  I  no  likee 
—  will  it  hurt?  I  'flaid  the  big 
dlagon  come  out  of  the  box."  (The 
nurse  had  evidently  been  telling 
her  stories  about  the  big  Chinese 
dragon.) 

Then  the  good  Hen  Yin  Gock 
came  out  from  the  curtain,  and 
assured  her  that  there  was  no  danger. 

157 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

He  brought  out  two  lovely  yellow 
roses  in  a  vase,  and  put  them  on  a 
small  table  with  a  bright  cover,  and 
then  told  Gum  Sing:  "If  you  heap 
good  girl,  and  do  what  I  say,  I  give 
you  the  floweh,  pletty  soon." 

Then  he  also  placed  on  the  table 
a  flute,  with  gaily  colored  tassels,  and 
then  the  cunningest  little  jar,  which 
looked  very  much  as  if  it  might  con- 
tain preserved  ginger,  and  she  was 
just  thinking  how  much  she  liked 
preserved  ginger  when  the  man  said : 
"  Now  keep  still  1  look  light  at  this 
box  !  '  (The  little  mother  trembled ; 
could  it  be  that  after  all  there  was 
something  horrible  in  the  box?) 
"  There  is  a  little  bird  in  this  box, 
and  you  may  see  it  fly  out  if  you 
are  quiet.  Now! — all  leadyl" 
(ready). 


The  Little  Almond  Blossom 

Gum  Sing  was  so  full  of  giggles 
that  she  could  hardly  be  quiet,  and 
the  dimples  chased  each  other  all 
over  her  sunny  face.  The  father  and 
mother  gazed  with  love  and  admira- 
tion at  the  beauty  of  their  little 
almond  flower,  with  one  hand  thrown 
carelessly  on  the  table  and  the  other 
grasping  the  fan. 

« There !  '  at  last  said  the  pho- 
tographer. 

Gum  Sing  wanted  to  know  what 
it  was  all  about,  yet  she  could  not 
seem  to  find  out.  But  several  days 
after  that,  when  ho  chun  was  out  on 
the  pavement  in  front  of  their  home, 
putting  some  China  lilies  in  a  bowl 
of  water,  a  man  came,  and  handed 
him  a  little  package.  Gum  Sing  was 
all  curiosity  in  a  minute. 

"  Oh,  ho  chuny   what    is    it  ?      Let 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

me  see !  '  she  cried,  and  mo  chun 
was  almost  as  eager.  So  the  father 
opened  the  package  while  they 
waited  wonderingly,  and  there,  before 
their  eyes,  on  pieces  of  polished  card- 
board —  could  it  be  ?  —  yes,  yes !  — 
the  picture  of  their  little  Almond 
Blossom  —  big  watch,  fan,  dimples, 
giggle  and  all. 

But  Gum  Sing  wonders  to  this  day 
why  the  bird  did  not  come  out  of 
the  box. 


1 60 


THE   CHRISTMAS   OF  GUM  CHING 


THE    CHRIST- 

MAS  OF   GUM   CHING 

GUM  CHING  lived  in  America, 
but  she  had  no  way  of  know- 
ing it,  as  she  never  saw  any 
of  the  country,  and  was  kept  in  her 
home  all  the  time.  As  she  was  un- 
fortunate enough  to  be  a  girl,  she  had 
never  been  permitted  to  go  anywhere, 
except  to  play  on  the  street  in  front 
of  her  father's  store.  Sometimes, 
when  playing  thus,  she  had  seen  little 
American  girls  drive  by  in  carriages 
with  their  mamas,  and  they  seemed 
to  be  having  so  much  fun  that  little 
Gum  Ching  would  look  very  sad  after 
they  had  passed,  and  would  say  to 
her  brother  Gum  Lee :  « I  wish  / 

163 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

was  a  'Melican  little  girl  —  they  have 
heap  good  time." 

It  was  Christmas  day,  yet  this 
had  never  meant  any  happiness  for 
Gum  Ching,  for  the  Chinese  save  all 
their  good  times  for  the  New  Year. 
But  it  chanced  that  her  little  brother 
had  been  attending  the  Mission,  and 
learning  to  read,  and  the  little  sister 
had  heard  him  say  that  they  were 
going  to  have  a  Christmas  tree  at  the 
Mission  that  very  night. 

"  What  can  a  Christmas  tree  be  ? ' 
said  the  little  Chinese  girl  to  herself; 
and  her  thoughts  were  busy  with  this 
all   day,  wondering  what    kind   of  a 
strange   tree  it  was. 

Oh,  if  she  could  only  go!  But  how 
could  she,  when  she  had  never  been 
out  of  Chinatown,  and  there  might 
be  all  sorts  of  ugly  things  waiting  to 

164. 


The  Christmas  of  Gum  Ching 

catch  her  as  she  passed.  She  could 
see  the  Mission  from  their  upstairs 
window,  and  she  wondered  vaguely 
if  any  of  the  little  "  'Melican  '  girls 
who  had  passed  in  their  carriages 
would  be  there.  She  said  to  herself: 
"  Even  if  they  should  punish  me 
when  I  get  home  I  no  care  —  be- 
cause then  I  have  something  nice  to 
think  of,  anyway." 

The  darkness  came  at  last,  and 
Gum  Ching  had  never  been  out  in 
the  dark.  She  never  knew  before 
that  it  was  quite  so  black,  but  she 
had  made  up  her  mind  to  go,  no 
matter  what  the  consequences  were. 

Now  Gum  Ching  did  not  have 
any  mama,  and  it  was  very  lonely 
for  her  at  home,  with  no  one  but 
just  her  ho  chun  and  the  little  brother, 
who  was  always  off  playing  with 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

some  boys.  After  she  had  eaten  her 
supper,  and  had  seen  ho  chun  light 
his  long  opium  pipe,  she  knew  then 
that  he  would  lie  down,  and  not 
awaken  until  the  morning.  So  she 
slipped  out  and  toddled  on,  in  her 
small  sandals,  in  the  direction  of  the 
light  which  streamed  from  the  win- 
dows of  the  mission. 

She  looked  up  at  the  sky,  and  was 
just  saying :  "  I  wondeh  what  those 
pletty  spahkling  things  are  up  there; 
I  likee  have  one ;  '  when  suddenly 
she  heard  a  mighty  roar,  and  right 
through  the  blackness  of  the  night 
came  a  great  demon  of  fire,  snorting, 
puffing,  and  screaming,  and  coming 
right  toward  the  poor  little  trem- 
bling Gum  Ching.  She  feared  to 
move,  and  so  stood  quite  still  until 
the  big  giant  had  passed,  and  van- 

166 


The  Christmas  of  Gum  Ching 

ished  again  into  the  darkness  of  the 
night. 

It  was  only  the  train,  but  Gum 
Ching  did  not  know.  She  was  only 
a  girl.  Onward  she  started  again, 
brave  little  soul,  and  soon  she  had 
reached  the  Mission.  No  one  would 
ever  know  what  a  terrible  under- 
taking it  was  for  a  little  girl  from 
China. 

The  door  was  open,  and  a  soft 
radiance  streamed  out,  and  lit  up  the 
timid  form  of  the  little  Gum  Ching, 
as  she  stood  on  the  step,  in  the  dark 
and  the  cold. 

She  could  hear  a  confused  murmur 
of  happy  voices,  and  just  as  she  was 
hesitating  whether  she  would  ven- 
ture in  or  turn  and  fly  back  to  her 
lonely  home  again,  a  kind  hand 
clasped  hers,  and  a  woman's  tender 

167 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

voice  said :  "  Why,  come  right  in, 
dear." 

Gum  Ching's  eyes  filled  with  tears, 
for  she  had  never  before  known  the 
sweetness  of  a  loving  woman's  voice. 
She  was  led  into  the  room,  not  even 
caring  now  if  she  was  punished,  for 
it  was  well  worth  it.  Her  sparkling 
oblique  eyes  almost  danced  out  of 
her  head  at  all  this  beauty.  Every- 
where were  sparkles  —  sparkles  —  and 
they  fairly  dazzled  her.  It  must  be 
a  dream,  she  thought.  She  looked 
before  her,  and  —  what  was  that  great 
green  tree  towering  toward  the  ceil- 
ing ?  It  was — it  must  be  —  the 
Christmas  tree !  And  did  all  those 
pretty  things  really  grow  on  the 
tree  ?  she  could  not  understand  it. 

Her  brother  could  not  believe  his 
eyes  when  he  saw  her  there.  She  ?  — 

168 


The  Christmas  of  Gum  Ching 

nothing  but  a  girl  ?  — what  right  had 
she  to  enjoy  herself?  But  she  was 
there,  for  all  that,  and  her  small 
brown  and  timid  hand  was  held  in 
a  warm  and  loving  clasp  by  one  of 
the  kind  teachers,  and  she  was  made 
to  feel  that,  after  all,  in  the  big  lonely 
world  there  was  some  one  who  cared, 
and  her  little  heart  was  full  to  over- 
flowing, and  she  had  to  blink  very 
hard  to  keep  back  the  tears  —  tears 
of  pure  joy. 

She  was  given  many  things  from 
that  beautiful  tree,  and,  best  of  all, 
the  teacher  took  her  home;  and 
ho  chun  was  good  to  her,  and  did  not 
punish  her  at  all,  but  promised  — 
just  think  of  it !  promised  —  that 
she  could  go  to  the  tree  again  next 
year. 

169 


HO   CHIN'S  FOURTH   OF  JULY 


HO    CHINAS 
FOURTH   OF  JULT  ^ 

HO  CHIN  was  ten  years  old, 
and  had  never  had  a  Fourth 
of  July.  Just  think  of  it ! 
Ho  Chin  was  the  son  of  the  Chinese 
Consul,  and  his  rank  placed  him  so 
far  above  the  ordinary  Chinese  boys 
that  he  was  very  much  looked  up  to, 
and  respected  by  them.  Ho  Chin 
did  not  live  in  one  of  the  small,  dark, 
opium-scented  rooms  in  which  the 
rest  of  the  Chinese  children  lived, 
but  in  the  elegant  Consulate  with  its 
large  rooms  and  marble  stairway; 
but,  after  all,  he  was  just  a  boy,  and 
liked  the  things  that  boys  liked. 
He  attended  a  very  select  American 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

school,  and  dressed  in  American  style. 
In  fact,  nothing  was  too  good  for 
Ho  Chin  —  the  eldest  son  of  a  Con- 
sul. But  you  know,  sometimes  he 
almost  wished  he  was  a  common  boy, 
and  could  run  and  play,  and  have 
the  perfect  freedom  of  the  street 
boy. 

Now  at  school  he  had  of  late  heard 
of  nothing  but  the  Fourth  of  July. 
"What  is  the  Fourth  of  July?"  he 
finally  ventured  to  ask. 

And  Johnny  Moore  replied,  only 
too  glad  to  be  the  first  one  to  divulge 
all  its  wonders,  "Why,  it's  —  it's  — 
fire-crackers,  you  know,  and  flags 
and  soldiers,  and  popcorn  and  pea- 
nuts, and  —  and  —  everything.  It 's 
the  best  time  of  the  year;  say,  it's 
just  bully !  Did  n't  you  ever  see 
one  ?  " 

174 


Ho  Chins  Fourth  of  July 

"No/'  gasped  the  delighted  Ho 
Chin.  «  Oh,  do  you  think  my  papa 
would  let  me  ? '  And  from  that 
time  on  he  could  hardly  study,  his 
mind  was  so  taken  up  with  this  new 
subject,  and  he  acted  so  strangely  at 
home  that  his  mama,  who  was  a 
beautiful  Chinese  lady  and  loved  her 
handsome  boy,  was  very  much  wor- 
ried over  the  change  in  him.  He 
would  leave  his  tea  and  rice  untasted, 
and  rush  from  the  table  most  unex- 
pectedly. Why?  Because  he  had 
heard  a  faint  whistle  outside,  from 
some  of  his  American  boy  friends, 
and  he  was  eager  to  get  out  to  them, 
to  talk  about  the  wonderful  event 
which  was  coming  so  near. 

The  more  he  thought  of  it,  the 
more  he  decided  in  his  mind  that  he 
had  better  not  tell  his  father  about 

I7S 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

it,  because  if  he  told  him  and  should 
be  refused  —  if —  Oh,  he  could  not 
bear  the  thought.  He  knew  that  his 
father  had  never  allowed  him  alone 
on  the  Chinese  streets,  for  wise  fathers 
always  accompany  their  children. 
For  who  could  tell  when  the  child 
of  a  wealthy  and  noted  man  might 
be  kidnapped  ?  And  the  timid  little 
Chinese  mother  was  never  really 
happy  when  he  was  out  of  her 
sight. 

So  the  time  flew  by.  The  Consul 
was  called  to  a  distant  part  of  the 
state  on  official  business,  and  when 
Ho  Chin  awoke  in  the  gray  dawn  of 
the  early  morning  his  first  thought 
was :  « Well,  I  can't  tell  papa  when 
he  is  not  here,  and  I  know  if  I  told 
mama  she  would  not  let  me  go. 
What  will  I  do  ?  I  can't  miss  it. 

176 


Through  the  narrow  streets 


Ho  Chins  Fourth  of  "July 

The  boys  will  think  I  am  a  coward 
if  I  don't  go,  and  —  I  have  some 
money  of  my  own." 

So  saying,  he  crept  out  of  bed, 
and  astonished  the  servants  by  his 
early  demand  for  breakfast.  He  knew 
his  dainty  mama  would  not  leave  her 
apartments  for  some  time,  for  it  took 
so  long  for  the  maids  to  dress  her 
hair,  and  manicure  her  finger-nails, 
and  array  her  in  her  rich  silks;  so, 
avoiding  the  eyes  of  the  servants,  he 
crept  stealthily  down  the  long  mar- 
ble stairway,  jingling  the  money  in 
his  pocket  as  he  went,  and  out 
through  the  narrow  streets,  whistling 
merrily,  in  the  perfect  delight  of 
freedom.  He  knew  he  was  not  do- 
ing right,  but  here  he  was,  at  the 
gate  of  Johnny's  house,  and  there  was 
Johnny  himself,  just  running  out  at 

i77 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

the  door,  cap  in  hand.  His  face 
wore  a  look  of  delight  as  he  saw  the 
Chinese  boy,  and  he  yelled  :  "  How'd 
you  get  here  ?  ' 

"  Oh,  I  just  came ;  nobody  knows 
it  —  and  say  !  Let 's  begin  !  I  Ve 
got  some  money;  let's  go  to  old 
Sing  Chew,  he 's  got  a  whole  store 
full  of  fire-crackers." 

Johnny's  mama,  looking  out  of 
the  window,  remarked  to  her  hus- 
band, "So  they  allowed  him  to  come, 
after  all.  Well,  I  'm  glad  of  that,  for 
he  seems  such  a  dear  little  fellow." 

Ho  Chin  was  as  happy  as  it  is  pos- 
sible for  a  boy  to  be,  when  he  found 
himself  in  the  wonderful  store.  Old 
Sing  Chew  was  awfully  busy,  but  not 
so  busy  that  he  could  not  see  the 
son  of  the  Consul,  and  hastened  to 
attend  to  his  wants. 


Ho  Chins  Fourth  of  July 

"  How  is  it  that  you  come  alone  ? 
I  neveh  see  you  come  unless  your 
ho  chun  bling  you,"  he  said. 

The  boy  replied,  «  Oh,  I  am  a  big 
boy  now,  and  I  like  to  have  a  good 
time  on  the  Fourth  of  July.  This 
is  my  friend! — he  goes  with  me." 
And  the  old  man  believed  him, 
and  admired  the  beautiful  com- 
mand the  boy  had  of  the  English 
language. 

It  seemed  a  wonderful  thing  to 
Johnny  that  any  one  boy  could  have 
so  much  money  to  spend.  It  seemed 
great  wealth  to  him,  because  he  had 
only  twenty-five  cents  for  his  fire- 
crackers, but  the  young  Ho  was  as 
generous  as  could  be,  and  they  left 
the  store  with  all  they  could  carry. 

What  a  pleasure  to  be  a  boy  on 
the  streets,  where  all  was  noise  and 

179 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

confusion  and  incessant  popping  of 
fire-crackers.  One  boy  threw  a  bunch 
under  a  horse's  feet,  and  he  ran  away 
and  frightened  a  lot  of  people. 
There  were  crowds  of  boys  —  boys 
everywhere,  and  a  good  many  Chi- 
nese boys,  but  only  those  of  the 
lower  class.  What  would  his  papa 
think  if  he  should  meet  him  now, 
his  hands  and  face  all  black  with 
powder,  and  a  wild  and  reckless  air 
about  him,  which  did  not  seem  at 
all  like  the  quiet  little  fellow  his 
papa  knew. 

Finally  the  great  parade  approached. 
He  had  only  seen  Chinese  parades, 
with  the  great  green  dragon,  and  it 
had  always  frightened  him;  but  there 
was  no  dragon  in  this  parade.  There 
were  soldiers, — oh,  so  many  hundreds 
of  them  !  —  with  their  bright  uniforms 
180 


Ho  Chins  Fourth  of  "July 

glittering  in  the  sun,  and  their  spirited 
horses  prancing  and  keeping  time  to 
the  music  of  the  many  bands.  Many 
of  the  horses  became  scared  at  the 
noise,  and  Ho  Chin,  being  a  boy, 
thought  it  great  fun  to  see  them 
stand  on  their  hind  legs  and  prance, 
and  act  as  if  they  would  run  over 
everybody.  He  did  not  feel  afraid, 
and  he  liked  to  hear  the  big  drums; 
they  sounded  beautiful  to  him,  al- 
most as  beautiful  as  the  Chinese 
"  tom-toms/'  There  were  so  many 
fine  things  about  that  parade  that 
little  Ho  did  not  realize  until  after 
it  had  passed  that  he  was  hungry. 
He  mentioned  the  fact  to  Johnny, 
and,  strange  to  say,  Johnny  was 
hungry  too.  They  were  a  long 
distance  from  home;  what  should 
they  do  ? 

181 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

"  If  I  had  any  money  left  we  could 
go  into  a  restaurant  and  have  our 
dinner,"  said  the  wary  Johnny. 

«  Oh,  could  we  ? "  said  Ho.  «  Well, 
we  will  go  then,  for  I  have  plenty 
of  money." 

Johnny  did  not  need  any  urging, 
you  may  be  sure,  and  many  people 
in  the  restaurant  were  amused  to  see 
the  two  little  friends  seated  at  the 
table  with  their  fire-crackers  on  a 
chair  beside  them.  Still  more 
amused  was  the  waiter,  who  brought 
them  such  a  mixture  as  he  had  never 
before  served  for  lunch.  It  was 
dreadful !  but  it  did  not  seem  so  to 
the  two  hungry  boys,  who,  with 
mouths  full,  were  so  interested  in 
talking  that  they  did  not  even  see 
the  waiter.  Little  Ho  Chin  paid 
the  bill  with  a  kingly  air,  and  they 

182 


Ho  Chins  Fourth  of  July 

strutted  out  to  pop  their  crackers 
for  the  rest  of  the  day.  They  were 
having  a  fine  time,  —  but  what  of 
the  little  Chinese  mother  ? 

When  her  toilet  was  completed  she 
inquired  for  her  boy,  as  she  knew  he 
was  to  have  a  holiday  to-day,  and 
was  told  that  he  had  breakfasted 
earlier  than  he  had  ever  done  before, 
and  they  had  not  seen  him  since. 
They  supposed  he  had  gone  to  her 
apartments.  She  had  the  whole  house 
searched,  and  was  frightened  almost 
to  death.  She  burned  her  incense 
before  the  god,  and  murmured :  «  Oh, 
good  joss  !  protect  my  boy,  and  bring 
him  to  me." 

At  that  moment  her  boy  had  just 
blown  off  his  coat-tail  with  a  bunch 
of  fire-crackers,  and  it  was  lucky  that 
he  had  not  been  blown  to  pieces. 

183 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

The  mother  could  only  wait  till  the 
day  wore  on,  as  her  husband  was  not 
there  to  advise  her,  and  Chinese 
women  are  so  helpless. 

After  this  day  of  delight  the  dark 
night  fell,  and  not  until  then  was  the 
little  Ho  reminded  that  his  mother 
would  be  worried,  and  he  must  go 
home.  His  fire-crackers  were  all 
gone,  he  was  tired,  and  so  covered 
with  powder  and  dirt  that  one  would 
never  have  recognized  him  as  the 
elegantly  dressed  little  boy  who  had 
left  home  in  the  early  morning. 
"  But,"  he  reflected,  «  I  have  had  the 
finest  time  of  my  life;  I  will  never 
forget  it." 

It  must  be  admitted,  though,  that 
his  conscience  hurt  him  very  badly 
as  he  wended  his  way  home.  He 
wondered  if  his  father  could  have 


Ho  Chins  Fourth  of  July 

come  home  unexpectedly.  There 
was  no  way  out  of  it ;  he  must  go 
and  face  it.  He  almost  felt  as  if  he 
would  like  to  run  away  to  some 
place  where  there  were  no  fathers 
and  mothers,  and  where  it  was  always 
the  Fourth  of  July  all  the  year  round. 

He  entered  the  great  iron  door, 
and  had  reached  the  top  of  the 
marble  stairway,  his  heart  beating 
with  fear.  He  almost  wished  now 
he  had  not  gone.  The  silence  was 
so  intense  that  he  could  almost  hear 
his  heart  beat  —  he  feared  the  worst. 
But  now  he  heard  a  rustle  of  silken 
garments,  and  there  came  through  the 
portieres  —  his  mother ! 

With  wide-open  black  eyes  he 
gazed  at  her.  Oh,  what  would  she 
do?  what  would  she  say?  —  he  stood 
trembling  and  speechless;  and  she?  — 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

Why,  she  was  just  a  mother,  after  all, 
and  with  one  great  sob  she  took  him 
in  her  arms  and  showered  kisses  on 
his  handsome  but  very  dirty  face. 
He  could  feel  her  tender  heart  beat- 
ing through  the  silken  blouse,  and 
she  clasped  him  closer  as  she  mur- 
mured: "  The  good  joss  has  brought 
him  back  to  me  —  my  brave  and 
beautiful  little  Ho." 

And  he  whispered,  "Mother  — 
forgive  me!  but  it  was  all  so  lovely, 
and —  I  just  love  the  Fourth  of  July ! " 

And  she,  being  a  mother,  forgave 
him. 


186 


THE   LITTLE   FISHER-MAIDEN 


FISHER-MAIDEN 

ELUEN  was  the  little  daughter 
of  a  poor  Chinese  fisherman, 
and  lived  in  the  Chinatown 
of  Monterey,  California.  She  was 
born  in  this  beautiful  country,  and 
did  not  know  anything  about  China, 
except  what  she  had  heard  her  par- 
ents say.  But  this  country  was  good 
enough  for  her,  she  thought,  with  its 
endless  skies  of  blue  overhead,  and 
the  big  noisy  ocean  dashing  its  white 
spray  up  on  the  silver  sands  right  in 
front  of  the  little  hut  she  called 
home. 

It  was  a  very  poor  place,  and  they 
were  very  poor  people,  but  Lo  Luen 

189 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

did  not  know  this,  because  it  was  all 
she  had  ever  known,  so  it  did  not 
disturb  her  simple  celestial  mind  in 
the  least.  Then  she  could  not  get 
lonely,  for  there  was  her  small  brother, 
Lo  Duck,  who  was  the  cunningest, 
chubbiest  little  boy  that  she  had  ever 
seen. 

Mo  chun  was  very  busy  always,  in 
the  little  hut,  as  she  was  a  cigarette- 
maker,  and  worked  at  this  all  the 
time  she  was  not  doing  the  cooking, 
and  making  the  simple  garments  for 
the  family. 

The  father  dearly  loved  his  chil- 
dren, and  often  called  Lo  Luen  his 
little  fisher-maiden.  This  was  be- 
cause she  was  such  a  help  to  him  in 
his  fishing.  She  and  little  Lo  Duck 
would  sit  out  on  the  ground  in  front 
of  their  home  for  hours  at  a  time, 

190 


The  Little  Fisher-Maiden 

putting  bait  on  the  hooks ;  and  this 
was  a  great  help,  for  it  saved  so  much 
time. 

He  would  cut  up  a  great  deal  of 
fish  into  small  bits,  and  put  it  in  a 
box  by  the  children,  and  they  would 
fasten  it  on  to  the  hundreds  of  hooks 
on  the  lines,  and  then  the  big  round 
baskets  would  be  all  ready  for  ho  chun 
to  cast  the  lines  into  the  ocean,  and 
draw  out  the  beautiful  fish.  Lo  Luen 
was  very  proud  when  she  saw  the 
fine  fish  in  the  boat  every  day,  for 
she  almost  felt  as  if  she  herself  had 
caught  them,  since  she  had  put  the 
bait  on  the  hooks.  One  day  she  had 
been  working  so  hard  that  her  father 
looked  at  her,  as  she  sat  there  in  the 
sun  with  her  sleeves  rolled  up,  work- 
ing away  as  if  her  life  depended  upon 
it,  and  he  said  to  her:  "Lo  Luen, 

191 


Almond  Blossoms 

how  you  likee  go  out  in  big  boat  with 
ho  chun?" 

"  Oh  !  "  she  shouted,  as  she  clapped 
her  little  brown  hands,  "I  likee  velly 
much  ;  I  likee  catch  big  fish  to  bling 
mo  chun" 

"  All  light,"  said  her  father.  «  We 
no  takee  hai  tong  (baby);  he  stay 
with  mo  chun^  he  too  little." 

Lo  Duck  objected  to  this;  he 
wanted  to  go  too,  but  he  would  only 
be  in  the  way,  and  then  his  mother 
would  be  worried  if  he  went,  so  he 
was  taken  into  the  house,  screaming 
vigorously.  The  timid  mother  felt 
rather  afraid  to  trust  her  little  daughter 
out  on  the  great  noisy  ocean,  whose 
waves  came  dashing  upon  the  rocks 
with  a  boom  like  thunder;  but  the 
father  said  she  was  a  big  girl  now,  and 
it  was  time  she  learned  something  of 

192 


The  Lit  fie  Fisher-Maiden 

the  sea.  So,  while  he  fitted  up  the 
boat  and  got  the  nets  into  it,  mo  chun 
was  dressing  the  little  girl  in  her 
warmest  blouse,  all  heavily  padded, 
and  then  got  out  a  very  thick  silk 
hood,  fastening  it  securely  on  her 
head,  and  last  of  all,  she  took  from 
the  padded  mumboo  (tea-pot  holder) 
a  pot  of  boiling  tea,  and  gave  it  to 
Lo  Luen. 

"Maskee-maskee,    my   samen  jai ' 
(never  mind,  my  little  boy),  she  said 
to  the  baby  brother,  "maybe  you  go 
next  time." 

Mo  chun  and  the  baby  boy  went 
with  them  as  far  as  the  boat,  and 
Lo  Luen  jumped  in  gaily,  and  they 
were  off.  The  water  was  smooth 
to-day,  and  everything  would  surely 
be  well,  thought  the  mother.  She 
went  in  and  placed  a  little  bowl  of 

„  193 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

steaming  rice  before  the  joss,  so  that 
he  would  protect  her  little  girl  from 
the  wrath  of  the  mighty  ocean,  and 
lighted  the  punks  before  him,  so  that 
the  incense  filled  the  little  room. 

Meanwhile,  the  little  fishing  boat 
went  dancing  over  the  blue  waves, 
as  light  as  an  egg-shell,  and  the  little 
Chinese  girl  was  happy. 

They  kept  near  the  shore  at  first, 
and  when  they  passed  the  Del  Monte 
hotel  she  saw  hundreds  of  little  Ameri- 
can children  running  on  the  beach. 
She  loved  to  watch  them,  as  they  ran 
with  bare  feet,  kicking  up  the  white 
sand.  Some  of  them  were  jumping 
rope  with  long  strands  of  kelp; 
some  were  hunting  shells  and  bits  of 
sea-moss ;  some  were  running  into 
the  foamy  surf,  filling  their  bright  tin 
pails  with  water,  and  then  hurrying 

194 


The  Little  Fisher- Maiden 

from  the  big  waves  they  would  run 
back  to  pour  the  water  into  some  little 
place  in  the  sand,  where  they  were 
building  all  sorts  of  wonderful  things. 

Some  of  the  little  girls  had  the 
most  wonderful  dolls  in  their  arms, 
—  or  at  least  they  seemed  wonderful 
to  a  little  girl  who  had  no  doll,  ex- 
cept just  the  hard  kelp  balls  which 
she  had  dressed  up  and  used  for  dolls, 
as  she  did  not  like  to  ask  for  one, 
for  fear  it  would  cost  too  much. 

They  left  the  shore  now,  and  went 
farther  out,  where  the  ocean  was 
deep  and  the  waves  were  rough. 
The  cool  salt  spray  dashed  in  her 
face,  and  her  long  queue  hung  over 
the  side  of  the  boat  and  dipped  into 
the  water.  Ho  chun  told  her  to  take 
it  in,  or  a  big  fish  might  come  along 
and  pull  her  in. 

195 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

Oh,  what  fun  it  was  to  see  him 
cast  in  the  net,  and  pull  out  so  many 
big  fish  !  but  she  was  a  little  afraid 
of  them,  they  were  so  squirmy  and 
floppy.  She  cuddled  up  in  one  end 
of  the  boat,  so  they  could  not  jump 
on  her,  but  ho  chun  fixed  a  plank  in 
front  of  her,  so  she  was  not  afraid. 

It  was  her  turn  now,  and  so  the 
father  produced  a  stout  little  fishing 
pole  and  tackle,  and  she  tried  her 
luck  at  fishing  in  the  big  ocean. 
Soon  she  felt  a  strong  tug  at  her 
line, — so  strong  that  it  almost  pulled 
her  in.  She  tugged  away,  though, 
till  she  almost  fell  out  of  the  boat, 
but  it  was  too  big  for  her ;  she  could 
not  manage  it  without  the  help  of 
ho  chun. 

"Maskee/*  he  said,  and  took  hold 
of  the  pole.  She  still  kept  her  small 

196 


The  Little  Fisher-Maiden 

hands  on  it,  though,  so  she  could  say 
that  she  caught  it.  Pretty  soon 
there  came  up  out  of  the  water  a  big, 
big  salmon,  all  gold  and  sparkling  in 
the  sunlight.  She  just  squealed  with 
delight,  and  her  father  said :  "  Heap 
good  girl ;  catchee  velly  big  fish." 

They  were  so  interested  in  the 
work  and  were  having  such  fine  luck 
that  they  did  not  realize  how  late  it 
was  getting.  Lo  Luen  was  enjoying 
it  so,  that  her  father  could  not  bear 
to  stop  her  pleasure. 

The  darkness  fell  upon  the  waters 
now,  and  the  sea  moaned  sadly. 
The  waves  grew  rougher,  and  the  air 
colder.  It  was  not  pretty  when  the 
sun  was  not  shining  on  it. 

«  The  wateh  too  black  now ;  I  no 
likee ;  I  want  see  mo  chun"  falter- 
ingly  said  the  little  one. 

197 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

They  could  see  the  dim  outlines 
of  great  ships  with  their  lights  send- 
ing long,  narrow  rays  across  the  dark 
of  the  ocean.  They  looked  like 
stars,  and  made  one  feel  as  if  they 
were  not  alone  on  the  vast  waters. 

"  We  go  home  now  —  see  mo  chun  ; 
get  nice  hot  tea"  said  the  father,  in 
a  kind  tone,  as  he  clasped  the  little 
figure  closely  to  him,  and  started  to 
row  home.  Of  course  Lo  Luen  did 
not  really  feel  afraid,  with  her  father 
so  near,  and  said  :  "  I  no  'flaid ;  but 
I  likee  go  fast.  I  cold  and  hungly 
—  that's  all."  \ 

Her  father  smiled  in  the  dark  as 
he  murmured  consolingly,  "  Yes  — 
that's  all." 

Lo  Luen  was  thinking,  as  she 
crouched  there,  nestled  up  against 
ho  chuny  "  How  pletty  those  dolls 

198 


The  Little  Fisher-Maiden 

were ;    I  be  so  happy  if  I  had  one  — 
just  one,  foh  my  velly  own." 

The  moonbeams  lit  up  the  water 
in  a  silvery  path,  and  as  Lo  Luen 
looked  at  this  path  and  thought  how 
very  beautiful  it  was,  she  noticed 
something  floating  in  the  light  and 
bounding  up  and  down  on  the  waves. 
It  looked  like  a  big  lump  of  seaweed. 

"What  is  that,  ho  chun?"  she  said, 
with  childish  curiosity. 

"  Oh,  I  think  just  a  piece  of  wood 
or  a  bunch  of  kelp ;  you  likee  get  it, 
little  girl?" 

"  Yes,  we  see  what  it  is,"  she  said. 

It  seemed  determined  to  get  away 
from  them,  for  almost  every  time 
they  were  near  enough  to  touch  it 
a  big  wave  would  come,  and  take 
it  away  in  the  dark,  and  it  would  be 
lost  to  sight  for  a  while.  But  soon 

199 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

the  light  revealed  it  right  within 
reach.  Ho  chun  put  out  his  hand  and 
grasped  it,  and  putting  it  on  the  fish 
said  :  "  We  see  when  we  get  home," 
and  rowed  away  as  fast  as  he  could. 

At  home  the  little  mother  was 
getting  very  uneasy.  What  could 
keep  them  so  long  ?  "  Cheung  kan  ye 
lok"  (it  is  getting  very  late),  she  said. 
Oh,  why  had  she  ever  let  her  go  ? 
To  think  of  her  pao  chu  (precious 
pearl)  being  out  on  the  big  ocean 
at  night.  She  imagined  all  sorts  of 
horrible  things,  and  blamed  herself. 
Perhaps  she  had  not  set  enough  food 
before  the  joss,  nor  burned  enough 
incense.  She  had  the  tea  all  nice 
and  hot,  and  knew  if  nothing  had 
happened  they  would  be  very  hungry 
when  they  reached  home.  So  she 
lighted  more  punks  before  the  god, 

200 


The  Little  Fisher-Maiden 

and  had  already  sung  the  baby's  little 
Chinese  song : 

"  My  little  baby  —  little  boy  blue  — 

Is  as  sweet  as  sugar  and  cinnamon  too ; 
Is  n't  this  precious  darling  of  ours 
Sweeter    than   dates    and    cinnamon 
flowers  ?" 

He  now  lay  asleep  on  his  couch, 
and  she  was  all  alone. 

After  what  seemed  an  age  to  her 
she  heard  the  sound  of  a  boat  being 
dragged  upon  the  sand,  and  ran  to 
the  door  of  the  hut,  and  stood 
there  looking  out  upon  the  beach. 
"  Lo  Luen  !  Lo  Luen  !  '  she  called 
out  in  the  darkness,  "  Yap  lot  le !  ' 
(come  in  !)  and  there  was  a  rush  of 
sandalled  feet,  and  in  just  a  moment 
two  cold  brown  hands  were  clasped 
in  her  warm  ones,  and  a  dear  little 
cold  nose  was  pressed  against  her 

201 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

face.  "Lo  Luen,  precious  pearl,  you 
have  come  back,  and  the  joss  is 
good,"  she  said. 

After  the  fish  were  put  away  ho  chun 
came  in,  and  everything  was  peace 
and  happiness  again.  The  warm 
room  seemed  more  welcome  than  ever 
before,  for  they  were  benumbed  with 
cold,  and  oh,  so  hungry!  Mo  chun, 
with  all  gentleness  and  love,  soon 
had  them  seated,  with  bowls  of  steam- 
ing rice  before  them,  and  fried  fish, 
and  other  good  things  which  she  had 
prepared  in  their  absence. 

After  supper  Lo  Luen  happened 
to  think  of  the  mysterious  bundle  of 
seaweed,  and  ho  chun  went  out  and 
brought  it  in.  It  was  very  wet,  and 
smelled  of  the  sea. 

"  I  guess  it's  only  a  piece  of  wood 
with  kelp  on,"  said  mo  chun;  but 

2O2 


The  Little  Fisher- Maiden 

anyway,  they  tore  the  wet  seaweed 
from  it,  while  Lo  Luen  looked  eagerly 
on.  What  could  that  be  sticking 
out  of  the  weed  ?  It  looked  -  -  it 
actually  looked  like  a  doll's  foot.  It 
couldn't  be,  and  yet  —  With  a  great 
cry  of  joy  Lo  Luen  saw  her  father 
uncover  the  treasure.  All  the  pent- 
up  feeling  of  starved  child-life  was  in 
her  cry,  for  there,  disclosed  to  her 
dancing,  oblique  eyes  was  a  doll  —  a 
real  one,  and  a  very  beautiful  one. 
She  could  not  believe  it  at  first,  but 
rubbed  her  eyes.  They  were  all 
astonished,  for  this  was  indeed  an 
event  in  their  barren  lives. 

The  doll  opened  her  eyes  as  if  she 
were  alive,  and  seemed  to  gaze  at 
them  in  gratitude  for  being  saved 
from  the  cruel  water.  Lo  Luen 
hugged  it  to  her  wildly  beating  heart 

203 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

and  her  face  beamed  with  a  rapturous 
joy  the  like  of  which  had  never  before 
come  to  her.  She  was  such  a  little 
mother,  always,  and  now  she  would 
have  something  upon  which  to  shower 
all  the  wealth  of  love  repressed  in 
her  warm  little  heart. 

They  did  not  attempt  to  solve  the 
mystery.  To  them  it  was  enough 
that  this  beautiful  toy  had  been  sent 
to  them  from  the  waters.  It  may  have 
been  that  the  doll  was  lost  in  some 
shipwreck,  or  that  some  of  the  little 
maidens  at  Del  Monte  had  left  it 
too  near  the  water,  and  the  waves  had 
carried  it  away.  It  belonged  now 
to  the  little  Chinese  fisher-maiden, 
and  that  was  enough  to  know. 

She  slept  that  night  with  the  pre- 
cious doll  in  her  arms  —  dear  little 
Lo  Luen ! 

204 


THE  FINDING   OF  SING  HO 


THE 

FINDING  OF  SING   HO 

ETTLE    SING    HO    did    not 
look  very  happy  as  he  stood 
out  on  the  pavement  in  front 
of  his  home.      He  had  intended  tak- 
ing   a   beautiful   walk,   and    had   his 
umbrella  already  over  his  head,  pre- 
paratory to  starting,  when  his  mo  chun 
appeared    on    the    scene,    and    said : 
"  Where  you  going,  hai  tong  (baby)  ?  " 
Now  Sing  Ho  did  not  like  to   be 
called  hai  tong^  for  he  felt   that   he 
was  almost  a  big  man,  so  he  replied : 
"  I  going  foh  walk,  down  stleet." 

« No,  no  !  you  too  small ;  you 
stay  home  now,  and  maybe  bimeby 
mo  chun  take  you,"  she  said ;  and 

207 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

then  she  hurried  into  the  house  to 
see  if  the  rice  was  burning.  When 
she  had  disappeared  he  stood  there 
for  a  moment,  with  the  gay  umbrella 
over  him,  looking  very  much  dis- 
pleased. 

He  was  only  four  years  old,  it  is 
true,  but  do  you  know,  he  often 
thought  he  knew  more  than  his  dear 
mother.  Now  Sing  Ho  was  the 
only  child,  and  had  always  been 
loved  and  petted,  and  had  never 
been  denied  anything  in  his  short 
little  life.  He  remembered  many 
walks  he  had  taken  with  his  father 
and  mother,  and  he  had  always  had 
such  a  good  time  that  he  thought 
it  would  be  still  better  if  he  could 
take  a  walk  all  alone.  He  had  just 
seen  two  of  his  little  friends,  with 
their  queer  little  Chinese  caps  on, 

208 


T'he  Finding  of  Sing  Ho 

and  they  had  said  they  were  going 
for  a  walk,  so  why  not  he  ? 

He  knew  his  mo  chun  was  very 
busy,  embroidering  a  blouse  for  him 
to  wear  on  the  New  Year,  and  the 
San  Nin  (New  Year)  would  be  here 
to-morrow.  So  he  thought  in  his 
baby  way  that  he  would  take  ad- 
vantage of  his  mama,  and  only  walk 
down  the  street  a  little  way,  and  she 
would  never  know.  He  was  too 
small  to  realize  that  it  is  a  very 
difficult  matter  for  even  grown-up 
persons  to  find  their  way  through 
the  narrow  and  tortuous  streets  of 
the  big  Chinatown  of  San  Francisco. 
He  could  not  be  expected  to  know 
these  things. 

So  he  wandered  on,  and  soon 
forgot  his  fear  in  watching  the  beau- 
tiful things  all  around  him.  China- 
14  209 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

town  was  in  holiday  attire,  and  as 
far  as  the  eye  could  reach  the  nar- 
row streets  were  a  perfect  mass  of 
bloom  and  beauty.  On  both  sides 
of  the  streets  were  ranged  great  stands 
of  the  China  lily  and  fragrant  almond 
blossom,  with  delicate  shades  of  pink. 

Someway  he  found  it  very  hard 
to  get  past  the  store  windows,  as 
they  seemed  to  have  so  many  things 
in  them  that  boys  like,  and  he  for- 
got everything  in  the  delight  of  gaz- 
ing at  them,  and  pressed  his  eager 
little  round  face  right  up  against  the 
glass  in  some  places,  and  poked  his 
cunning  little  nose  into  a  fragrant 
bunch  of  lilies,  to  inhale  their  sweet- 
ness. Mo  chun  had  some  lilies  at 
home,  but  not  so  many  nor  such 
beautiful  ones  as  these.  At  every 
door  were  strange  Chinese  letters, 

210 


The  Finding  of  Sing  Ho 

and  he  looked  longingly  at  great 
bunches  of  peacock  feathers  with 
their  many  eyes,  and  the  gaudy 
rosettes  of  red  paper  which  are  every- 
where on  the  New  Year.  Almost 
every  one  that  he  met  carried  a 
brown  paper  parcel  of  pork  and  an 
onion,  or  some  kind  of  funny  look- 
ing lettuce,  for  the  Chinese  love  pork 
better  than  the  Americans  love 
turkey,  and  it  had  to  be  a  very  poor 
person  indeed  who  did  not  feel  able 
to  buy  himself  a  piece  of  pork  on 
the  New  Year. 

Chinamen  of  all  kinds  were  throng- 
ing the  streets,  and  so  many  children, 
too,  were  toddling  along  with  some 
older  person,  that  no  one  noticed 
that  the  little  boy  was  alone. 

He  believed  he  had  only  to  walk 
back  just  a  little  way  and  he  would 

211 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

be  at  home.  He  did  not  know  that 
he  had  made  several  turns,  and  that 
it  would  be  impossible  for  him  to 
find  his  way  back  alone. 

Naughty  little  Sing  Ho !  There 
were  so  many  American  people,  too, 
in  the  shops,  buying  curious  and 
beautiful  things.  On  both  sides  of 
the  street  were  rows  of  great  dragon 
lanterns.  He  looked  at  them  in 
childish  wonder,  longing  for  the  great 
swaying  globes.  Suddenly  he  felt 
something  hit  him  on  the  arm,  and, 
looking  upward,  saw  far  above  him 
some  beautiful  Chinese  ladies  on  a 
balcony;  and  what  is  this  that  they 
have  thrown  down  ?  Something  very 
near  to  the  heart  of  a  boy, — a  bright 
bunch  of  fire-crackers ! 

He  was  smiling  now  without  any 
difficulty.  Just  then  he  heard  a 

212 


The  Finding  of  Sing  Ho 

woman's  shrill,  high-pitched  voice 
speaking  to  him  from  the  latticed 
window  above  him,  saying  :  "  Little 
boy !  little  boy !  where  is  your 
mo  chun  ? ' 

"  She  at  home,"  he  replied,  and 
then  hesitatingly  faltered,  "Ngo  pa 
ngo  tong  cho  lu  lok  "  (I  am  afraid  I 
have  lost  my  way). 

He  was  crying  now,  and  presented 
a  very  mournful  appearance  to  the 
gaze  of  the  passer-by.  These  ladies 
above  him  were  those  of  the  tiny 
"  golden  lily  feet,"  and  very  wealthy 
and  aristocratic,  so  they  could  not 
leave  their  rooms  and  come  down 
to  him,  as  that  was  not  their  cus- 
tom. If  it  had  been  the  next 
day  they  could  have  done  so,  for  on 
every  day  of  the  week  of  San 
Nin  they  were  permitted  to  leave 

213 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

their  homes  and  go  anywhere  they 
pleased. 

"  Ni  kiu  mat  meng  a  ? '  (what  is 
your  name  ?)  they  asked. 

"My  name?      Sing  Ho/'  he  cried. 

"  You  come  up,"  they  called 
down  to  him,  pointing  meanwhile  to 
a  dark  and  narrow  stairway  which 
led  up  from  the  street. 

"It  so  dark — Sing  Ho  'flaid  to 
go  alone  —  I  want  mo  chun  —  boo, 
hoo,  he  wailed,  in  a  pitiful  little 
voice. 

«  But  you  must  come.  We  find 
mo  chun ;  we  give  you  heap  plenty 
fiah-clackeh  (fire-cracker),  plenty  nice 
little  cake  ;  come  on  ! ' 

Baby  though  he  was,  he  remem- 
bered that  his  mother  had  always 
warned  him  against  strangers,  and 
told  him  never  to  allow  any  one  to 

214 


The  Finding  of  Sing  Ho 

persuade  him  to  go  with  them.  But 
finally  he  decided  that  this  was  very 
different,  and  that  anything  would  be 
better  than  being  lost  on  the  street. 

«  All  light !  "  he  sobbed,  and  started 
in  great  fear  up  the  narrow  stair- 
way. Ugh!  how  dark  it  was!  and 
he  trembled,  as  his  little  sandalled 
feet  crept  hesitatingly  on.  When  he 
at  last  reached  the  end  of  the  stair- 
way he  found  himself  in  a  dark  and 
narrow  hall  thick  with  the  fumes  of 
opium. 

Where  were  the  beautiful  ladies  ? 
—  and  the  little  cakes  ?  Nothing 
was  to  be  seen  but  the  gaunt  figures 
of  Chinamen  gliding  stealthily  to 
and  fro  in  the  narrow  hall.  There 
were  many  doors  on  either  side  the 
hallway,  and  in  each  door  was  a 
small,  square  lattice  into  which  the 

215 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

men  would  speak  some  queer  words 
in  Chinese,  when  the  door  would 
be  cautiously  opened,  and  he  would 
enter.  When  the  doors  opened  little 
Sing  Ho  caught  glimpses  of  many 
Chinamen  with  cards  in  their  hands, 
seated  around  some  tables  and  call- 
ing out  in  a  loud  voice  strange 
Chinese  words  which  he  could  not 
understand.  In  some  of  the  rooms 
he  could  see  men  reclining  on  bam- 
boo couches  and  smoking  opium. 
Oh,  if  his  mother  could  see  him  now, 
as  he  stood  there  alone,  and  trem- 
bling in  the  half-darkness  ! 

Just  then  his  dear  and  beautiful 
little  mother  had  put  the  last  stitch 
in  the  blouse  she  was  embroidering, 
and  proudly  held  it  out  to  the  ad- 
miring gaze  of  her  sister,  who  lived 
with  her. 

216 


The  Finding  of  Sing  Ho 

"  He  is  playing  outside  ;  I  go  get 
him,"  she  said;  and  with  a  smile  on 
her  lips  she  opened  the  door  and 
called  him. 

"Sing  Ho!      Sing  Ho!  " 

No  reply. 

"Why,  that  is  strange,"  she  thought. 
«  Maybe  he  come  in  the  house  and 
go  to  sleep." 

She  hurried  into  the  small  bed- 
room and  looked  eagerly  at  the 
couch.  No,  there  was  no  samen  jai 
there.  She  was  trembling  now,  with 
a  nameless  fear.  Her  pretty  face 
grew  pale,  and  the  little  brown  ner- 
vous fingers  were  like  ice. 

Her  boy  —  her  baby  —  the  hon- 
ored one  of  the  house  of  Sing,  whose 
birth  had  crowned  her  with  glory. 
Why,  he  must  be  there ;  he  could 
not  be  gone  from  her  —  and  yet  — 

217 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

where  was  he  ?  Her  little  tender 
baby  boy  who  had  never  been  from 
her  side ;  the  little  brown  face, 
naughty,  sometimes,  it  is  true,  but 
always,  to  the  mother,  the  dearest 
of  things  in  all  the  big  world. 

Without  stopping  to  change  her 
house-robes  she  rushed  down  the 
street,  and  to  the  store  of  her  hus- 
band, Sing  Kee.  He  was  just  going 
down  into  the  cellar  after  some  tubs 
of  preserved  ginger,  when  he  was 
startled  by  seeing  his  wife  appear  be- 
fore him.  The  cat,  that  had  always 
been  loved  and  petted  by  little  Sing 
Ho,  lay  sunning  itself  at  the  entrance, 
and  Sing  Kee  looked  up  with  a  very 
serious  face,  for  he  knew  that  no 
little  matter  would  bring  his  wife 
thus  unexpectedly  to  his  place  of 
business.  She  surely  would  not  be 

2lS 


The  Finding  of  Sing  Ho 

going  on  the  street  the  day  before 
the  New  Year. 

«  What 's  the  matter  ?  "  he  asked 
in  Chinese.  She  could  hardly  reply 
for  the  wild  throbbing  of  her  tender 
heart. 

"  My  baby  —  my  precious  pearl 
—  he  lost  !  I  no  can  find  him  ;  he 
gone  —  I  no  know  where." 

And  then  she  hid  her  face  in  her 
trembling  brown  hands  and  wept  in 
the  wildest  grief.  The  poor  father 
was  terrified,  for  he  knew  what  a 
big  place  Chinatown  was,  and  how 
easily  a  little  child  could  be  lost  or 
stolen,  or  hidden  away,  and  no  one 
would  ever  see  it  again.  He  knew 
the  underground  passages  and  dark 
opium  dens  which  were  thick  around 
them,  and  his  heart  almost  broke  as 
he  listened  to  her  story.  She  had 

219 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

little  to  tell.  It  was  only  that  he 
had  wanted  to  take  a  walk,  and 
she  had  told  him  he  must  not  go, 
believing  that  he  would  obey  her, 
as  he  always  had. 

They  started  through  the  streets 
now,  in  search  of  him,  their  eager 
eyes  gazing  in  all  directions.  Two 
of  his  little  playmates  stood  on  a 
doorstep,  and  they  inquired  of  them 
if  they  had  seen  him.  Yes,  they 
had  seen  him  early  in  the  afternoon. 
He  had  passed  them,  carrying  his 
umbrella. 

The  distracted  parents  searched 
until  the  dark  night  fell  and  the 
great  dragon  lanterns  were  lighted 
in  the  balcony  of  the  joss  house 
near  by. 

The  joss  house!  —  there  was  an 
idea !  Why  had  they  not  thought 

220 


The  Finding  of  Sing  Ho 

of  it  before  ?  They  would  go  there 
at  once,  and  supplicate  the  god,  that 
they  might  find  their  baby.  They 
ascended  the  long  flights  of  stairs 
until  they  were  right  in  the  room 
with  the  joss.  There  were  little 
bowls  of  ashes  full  of  punks,  to  be 
burned  before  the  god,  and  the  odor  of 
incense  filled  the  air  as  they  lighted 
them  and  waved  them  before  the  joss. 

Sing  Kee  threw  many  of  the  little 
carved  prayer-sticks  into  the  air,  too, 
and  when  they  fell,  looked  at  them 
eagerly,  evidently  seeing  something 
about  them  which  pleased  him,  for 
he  smiled,  and  said  to  the  timid  little 
mother :  "  They  say  we  find  him  to- 
mollow  —  we  go  home  now." 

They  went  home,  but  it  was  not 
home  to-night  without  the  dear  little 
round,  saucy  face  on  the  hard  pillow, 

221 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

the  patter  of  the  little  sandalled  feet 
on  the  floors,  and  the  click  of  the 
little  chopsticks.  There  was  no  sleep 
for  them  that  night.  They  had  told 
the  Chinatown  police  of  their  loss, 
but  no  clue  had  yet  been  reported. 

Early  next  morning  they  started 
out  again,  on  their  weary  search.  It 
was  the  first  day  of  the  New  Year, 
but  they  had  not  dreamed  they 
would  celebrate  it  in  this  way,  as 
with  heavy  hearts  they  picked  their 
way  through  the  narrow  streets, 
glancing  in  every  direction,  and  up 
at  the  flower-laden  balconies,  with 
the  candles  burning  for  the  joss. 

Meanwhile  the  little  Sing  Ho  had 
stood  in  fright,  and  looked  around 
him,  in  the  darkness  of  the  hallway. 
Where  were  the  pretty  ladies  ?  Had 
he  only  dreamed  he  saw  them  ? 

222 


The  Finding  of  Sing  Ho 

Suddenly  he  heard  a  high-pitched 
but  sweet  voice  somewhere  above 
him,  saying :  « Where  are  you,  little 
boy  ?  Come  up  the  other  stairs/' 

The  other  stairs  ?  where  were  they? 
He  had  supposed  that  he  was  at  the 
top  now,  but  on  looking  around  he 
saw  still  another  flight  of  steps,  and 
gladly  running  to  them  he  started  on 
upward  again,  as  fast  as  his  tired  little 
legs  could  carry  him.  When  he 
reached  the  top,  some  one  opened 
a  door,  cautiously,  and  calling  out 
"  Tap  loi  le!"  (Come  in  !)  reached  out 
a  beautiful  jewelled  hand,  and  drew 
him  softly  within  the  room. 

Oh,  how  lovely  it  all  was !  There 
was  a  chatter  of  women's  voices  in 
high-bred,  nasal  tones,  and  the  room 
was  warm,  and  smelled  of  incense. 
One  very  pretty  little  lady  drew  him 

223 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

to  her  as  tenderly  as  a  mother,  and 
said  to  him  in  the  sweetest  tones  : 
"  Do  not  fear,  little  one !  I  will  find 
mo  chun  for  you.  Where  do  you 
live?" 

"  Why,  I  live  with  mo  chun  and 
ho  chun"  he  said. 

"  Where  do  they  live  ? '  she  in- 
quired. 

« I  no  know  —  they  live  at  my 
home  —  and  mo  chun  she  make  me 
velly  pletty  blouse." 

Poor  little  boy !  so  he  could  not 
give  them  any  clue,  then,  by  which 
they  might  find  his  parents.  Well, 
they  would  have  to  wait,  and  do  the 
best  they  could  under  the  circum- 
stances. They  tried  to  make  him  for- 
get his  sorrow  for  a  while,  and  showed 
him  many  wonderful  things.  In  the 
centre  of  the  room  was  a  table,  all 

224 


The  Finding  of  Sing  Ho 

arranged  for  the  New  Year,  and  on 
it  were  great  bowls  of  China  lilies, 
and  Chinese  lemons  and  oranges. 
Then  there  was  a  polished  tray,  hold- 
ing all  kinds  of  candy  and  nuts. 
The  windows  were  a  perfect  mass  of 
lily  and  almond  blossom,  and  pea- 
cock's feathers  were  everywhere  staring, 
with  their  green  eyes.  Outside  was 
the  balcony,  from  which  the  ladies 
had  first  spoken  to  the  little  lost 
boy,  and  on  it  were  many  big  dragon 
lanterns,  whose  soft  light  fell  upon 
the  flowers,  and  made  it  look  like 
fairyland. 

They  served  tea  out  on  the  bal- 
cony, and  gave  Sing  Ho  the  dearest 
little  cup,  and  cakes,  and  plenty  of 
watermelon  seed  to  nibble  at,  and 
everything  that  he  loved,  except  — 
his  dear  mama.  When  the  breezes 
15  225 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

began  to  blow  too  roughly  and 
sway  the  dragon  lanterns,  they  de- 
cided to  put  the  little  stranger  to 
bed.  This  was  the  worst  moment  of 
all.  How  could  he  go  to  bed  with- 
out his  dear  mother's  kiss  ?  Oh, 
how  his  lonely  little  heart  ached  and 
ached,  and  he  just  had  to  let  the  big 
tears  come,  and  roll  down  his  cheeks. 
He  did  n't  want  to  be  rude  to  the 
pretty  lady,  but  —  there  was  no  one 
like  his  mo  chun.  Finally  he  did  go 
to  sleep,  though,  and  when  he  awoke 
it  was  the  first  day  of  the  New  Year. 

He  was  waited  upon  like  a  little 
king,  with  a  big  bowl  of  rice  and  ivory 
chopsticks,  nice  hot  tea,  and  little 
almond  cakes  —  everything  that  one 
could  wish,  but  —  it  did  not  take  the 
ache  out  of  his  heart.  After  break- 
fast he  and  the  beautiful  lady  went 

226 


Copyright,  1900,  by  SchuUe. 


His  own  beautiful  mo  chun 


The  Finding  of  Sing  Ho 

out  on  the  balcony,  and  sat  there  for 
hours,  looking  down  at  the  crowd. 

The  streets  were  thronged  now, 
and  there  was  an  incessant  noise  of 
fireworks.  The  New  Year  had  be- 
gun in  earnest.  The  lady  was  going 
to  take  him  for  a  walk  that  after- 
noon, but  they  would  sit  on  the 
balcony  now,  and  watch  the  crowds 
beneath.  There  were  so  many  chil- 
dren, and  all  dressed  in  their  richest 
robes.  It  made  the  heart  of  little 
Sing  Ho  ache  to  see  the  richly  em- 
broidered blouses,  so  like  his  own, 
and  if  he  had  not  been  naughty  and 
run  away  he  might  even  now  be 
walking  along  down  there,  wearing 
the  blouse,  and  holding  the  hand  of 
his  own  beautiful  mo  chun. 

His  own  beautiful  mo  chun  ?  — 
Why  —  why  —  he  rubbed  his  eyes 

227 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

and  stared  down  into  the  street. 
Was  he  dreaming  ? 

"  Mo  chun  !  Mo  chun ! "  he 
screamed,  in  his  shrill  baby  voice; 
for  down  on  the  street  beneath  the 
balcony  hurried  a  pale  but  pretty 
little  Chinese  woman,  her  searching 
gaze  going  in  every  direction. 

"  It  is  my  mo  chun  !  Stop  !  '  he 
cried ;  and  the  Chinese  lady  on  the 
balcony  threw  down  her  painted  fan 
and  hit  the  little  mother  of  Sing  Ho 
right  on  the  head.  Glancing  upward 
in  surprise,  the  mother  looked  straight 
into  the  eyes  of  her  precious  pearl,  her 
little  Sing  Ho!  Oh,  the  rapture  and 
the  mother-love  that  shone  in  her 
face  now!  How  the  light  came 
back  into  her  eyes,  and  the  red  lips 
smiled,  and  the  red  rose  bloomed  in 
her  cheeks  as  she  reached  out  her 

228 


The  Finding  of  Sing  Ho 

arms  to  the  balcony  and  sobbed : 
«  Hai  tong  !  hai  tong  (baby!  baby)  !  ' 

The  father,  who  had  gone  on  in 
front  of  her,  Chinese  fashion,  was 
called  back,  and  together  they  as- 
cended the  same  steps  which  had  so 
frightened  their  baby  boy.  As  it  was 
the  New  Year  week  it  was  perfectly 
proper  that  they  should  both  enter 
the  rooms  of  the  Chinese  ladies,  and 
what  a  happy  time  that  was ! 

Every  one  soon  became  acquainted, 
through  the  medium  of  a  little  child, 
and  very  soon  they  were  all  having  a 
New  Year's  cup  of  tea  and  other 
dainties,  and  were  laughing  and  chat- 
ting away  as  if  they  had  known  each 
other  always. 

When  they  went  home  Sing  Ho 
was  given  so  many  beautiful  things 
that  his  little  arms  were  full,  and  ho 

229 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

chun  said  as  they  entered  the  door 
of  their  own  home :  « I  knew  we 
would  find  him,  because  the  prayer- 
sticks  said  so." 


230 


THE  SLAVE-GIRL' S  THANKSGIVING 


THE    SILAGE- 
GIRDS  THANKSGIVING 

IT  was  Thanksgiving  Eve ;  but  of 
this  fact   Pao   Chu  was  entirely 
ignorant,    for    how    could     she 
know   anything   of  Thanksgiving,   or 
of  giving  thanks,  when  she  was   only 
a  little  Chinese  slave,  and  had  never 
been    out   of  her   prison    in    China- 
town ? 

Quong  Lee,  the  president  of  the 
Quong  Duck  Tong,  a  highbinder  so- 
ciety, was  her  owner,  and  she  sup- 
posed that  everybody  was  like  him, 
and  that  there  was  no  goodness  or 
happiness  in  all  the  world.  All  the 
world  to  Pao  Chu  meant  just  the 
limited  area  she  could  see  from  her 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

iron-barred  window — about  one  foot 
square.  And  yes  —  on  one  occasion 
the  old  hag  who  guarded  her  had 
fallen  into  a  deep  opium  sleep,  and 
Pao  Chu  had  slipped  out  on  the  tiny, 
flower-decked  balcony,  and,  leaning 
far  over,  had  gazed  with  pathetic 
eagerness  down  at  the  swarming 
crowd  of  Chinamen  below.  Her 
name  meant  "  precious  pearl,"  but 
she  could  see  no  reason  for  such  a 
meaning,  unless  —  yes,  it  must  be 
because  she  would  bring  a  big  price 
when  she  was  sold  again.  She  had 
overheard  Quong  Lee  talking  to  the 
old  hag  Suey  Gong  one  night  when 
they  had  thought  she  slept,  and  he 
had  said  then  that  one  of  his  high- 
binder friends  had  offered  him  three 
thousand  dollars  for  Pao  Chu,  but  he 
was  not  going  to  sell  her  yet,  as  he 


The  Slave-GirTs  Thanksgiving 

thought  he  could  get  five  thousand 
soon,  for  she  was  growing  more  beau- 
tiful every  day.  But  the  poor  little 
pearl  paid  dearly  for  that  one  little 
tantalizing  glimpse  of  the  Chinese 
world.  It  happened  to  be  the  night  of 
a  Chinese  celebration,  —  the  "Moon 
Festival,"  —  and  the  light  from  the 
great  dragon  lanterns  swaying  above 
her  shone  full  upon  her  pretty  face. 
Many  glanced  upward,  and  were 
startled  by  the  lovely  apparition. 
Her  face  was  full  of  Oriental  witch- 
ery, and  the  tender  young  soul  of 
her  shone  out  in  the  great  velvet 
eyes,  and  the  pretty  mouth  glowed 
like  a  scarlet  rose,  while  her  hair 
shone  in  the  mystical  fairy  light  of 
the  lanterns. 

But   alas   for    Pao    Chu,   the    pure 
pearl    in    the   mire !      As  she    gazed 

23S 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

down  at  the  moving  merry  crowd, 
her  whole  soul  in  her  eyes,  and  living 
a  whole  life  in  that  one  moment, 
two  passed  beneath  the  balcony  — 
a  fateful  two ;  one  the  highbinder 
friend  of  her  master,  who  saw  her 
face,  and  forever  after  wished  to  gain 
possession  of  it  for  his  own,  and 
the  other  her  master,  Quong  Lee,  the 
great  and  high  —  Quong  Lee,  the 
demon  and  arch-fiend.  At  first  he 
was  amazed  at  the  transformation 
that  happiness  had  made  in  her  face, 
and  then — with  one  bound  he  was 
up  the  stairs.  The  poor  little  slave- 
girl  stood  transfixed  with  horror. 
She  called  hysterically  on  the  little 
squatty  god  in  the  corner,  but  the  god 
stolidly  refused  to  listen,  —  indeed 
he  always  had  refused.  She  could 
not  recall  a  time  when  he  had  ever 
236 


The  Slave-Girl's  Thanksgiving 

listened ;  and  now  her  master  strode 
furiously  into  the  room,  and  grasped 
the  poor  trembling  child  with  his 
great  murderous  hands.  He  shook 
her  violently,  and  hurled  at  her  all 
the  Chinese  profanity  at  his  com- 
mand. He  beat  her  so  that  she 
almost  died,  and  she  would  so  much 
rather  have  really  died,  but  he  would 
not  kill  the  goose  that  laid  the  golden 
eggs*  Oh,  no !  this  little  bit  of 
stubborn  womanhood  would  fill  his 
purse  with  gold  some  day,  and  so  — 
he  must  not  go  too  far.  He  must  not 
cripple  or  maim  her  or  she  would  be 
a  drug  on  the  market.  He  would 
simply  beat  her  and  starve  her  for 
a  few  days,  and  bestow  upon  her 
every  vile  epithet  in  his  category. 

He    then    dragged    the   old    Suey 
Gong  from  her  hard  couch  and  gave 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

her  a  beating.  Her  brain  was  so 
deadened  with  opium  that  she  could 
not  understand  why  she  was  being 
beaten ;  but  then  it  did  not  matter 
why,  she  had  often  been  beaten,  and 
there  must  be  a  reason  for  it.  She 
would  have  liked  to  know,  of  course, 
but  then  it  was  a  woman's  place  to 
be  beaten,  as  the^//,  or  female  prin- 
ciple, was  the  source  of  all  evil,  and 
must  be  chastised  whenever  the  male 
principle  should  see  fit  to  do  so. 

From  that  time  on  there  was  no 
more  freedom  for  the  little  slave. 
No  fresh  air  save  that  which  came 
through  the  tiny  lattice;  no  glimpse 
of  any  human  being  save  the  old 
hag  and  the  highbinder.  Nothing 
to  do  but  just  to  sit  and  make 
cigarettes  all  day,  for  her  master  to 
sell,  and  to  talk  to  the  old  Suey  Gong. 

238 


The  Slave-GirTs  Thanksgiving 

It  was  two  years  since  her  fateful 
visit  to  the  balcony,  and  the  girl  was 
talking  in  her  innocent  way  to  the 
old  woman. 

"  Suey  Gong  !  do  you  know  when 
I  be  sold  ?  Will  the  new  master 
beat  me  evly  day  ?  What  kind  of  a 
life  will  it  be  ?  Tell  me !  "  These, 
and  many  other  questions,  but  to 
none  of  them  could  the  old  woman 
reply.  If  she  had  known  the  answers 
she  would  not  have  dared. 

"  I  no  sabe  (understand)  anything," 
she  said,  "  I  only  know  China  girl 
neveh  be  happy.  Bad  spirits  allee 
timee  stay  with  her.  She  must  allee 
timee  play  (pray)  to  the  gods ;  she 
must  work  for  man,  he  must  beat 
her;  she  neveh  be  flee  (free).  She 
have  heap  plenty  bad  time  here ;  I 
no  know  why;  I  no  can  tell." 

239 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

« But  why  should  I  play  to  god 
when  he  neveh  hear?  Listen! 
listen !  —  Suey  Gong !  I  no  play  to 
Chinese  god  any  more.  Afteh  this 
I  play  —  I  play  to  —  'Melican  god. 
Then  we  see  ! ' 

The  old  woman  held  up  her  hands 
in  horror.  The  American  spirit  had 
surely  gotten  into  this  bit  of  Chinese 
girlhood.  O  that  she  had  never  told 
this  girl  about  the  American  god ! 
It  was  too  late  now,  though,  for  Pao 
Chu  with  clasped  hands  was  saying : 

"Oh,  heap  good  'Melican  joss! 
Listen  to  a  poor  slave-girl's  prayer! 
My  master  he  beat  me  evly  day; 
I  no  can  tell  why.  I  tly  to  be 
good,  but  he  allee  time  beat  me  and 
starve  me  ;  I  so  unhappy.  Oh,  good 
'Melican  god,  if  you  can  hear  me, 
set  me  flee  (free)!" 

240 


The  Slave-GirTs  Thanksgiving 

This  innocent  petition  was  enough 
to  have  brought  tears  to  the  eyes  of 
even  the  little  clay  god,  but  he  was 
not  moved.  Old  Suey  Gong  was  so 
terrified  for  fear  the  girl's  prayer 
would  bring  down  the  whole  horde 
of  evil  spirits  upon  them  that  she  in 
feverish  haste  set  to  work  to  light 
fresh  incense  sticks  before  the  joss, 
and  to  set  fresh  bowls  of  food  and 
tea  before  him.  All  this  happened 
on  Thanksgiving  Eve,  though  there 
was  nothing  at  all  in  the  slave-girl's 
life  for  which  she  could  be  thank- 
ful, even  if  she  had  known  it  was 
Thanksgiving. 

But  wait !  —  there  was  something, 
for  old  Suey  Gong  was  telling  her 
that  the  master  had  received  an  im- 
portant telegram  from  some  member 
of  the  Quong  Duck  Tong,  which 
16  241 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

had  called  him  out  of  the  city,  and 
he  would  not  be  able  to  return  for 
two  whole  days,  —  two  days  without 
being  beaten  !  Perhaps  already  the 
'Melican  god  had  heard.  If  she 
could  only  gain  the  consent  of  the 
old  woman  she  might  once  more 
venture  on  the  forbidden  balcony. 
The  fates  were  kind  and  the  opium 
goddess  filled  the  old  woman's  brain 
with  dreams,  and  held  down  her 
eyelids.  She  slept,  but  the  little  girl 
did  not.  Garbed  in  pale  lavender 
silk,  she  stole  noiselessly  out  on  the 
forbidden  balcony.  Her  slim  brown 
fingers  lovingly  caressed  the  Chinese 
lilies  wrapped  in  red  paper  to  scare 
away  the  bad  spirits.  Just  now  the 
bad  spirits  were  not  on  duty,  luckily 
for  the  little  Chinese  maiden.  The 
tang  of  the  sea  air  was  so  refreshing 
242 


The  Slave-GirTs  Thanksgiving 

to  her  starved  senses.  She  could 
look  down  to-night  without  fear,  for 
her  master  would  not  come  to-night, 
and  in  a  childish,  unformed  way  she 
breathed  a  blessing  on  the  unknown 
highbinder  who  had  sent  the  message, 
and  although  she  did  not  know  it 
was  Thanksgiving  Eve,  a  prayer  of 
thanks  to  the  unknown,  intangible 
power  who  had  given  her  this  mo- 
ment's freedom  went  up  from  her 
innocent  heart. 

Everywhere  down  the  streets  of 
« Little  China"  the  big  lanterns 
glowed  and  swung  in  the  fresh  night 
air.  A  bell  pealed  out  on  the  silence, 
and  seemed  to  speak  of  peace,  and 
of  something  different  from  the  life 
she  knew. 

Suddenly  her  eye  fell  upon  some 
one  who  did  not  wear  the  accustomed 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

queue  and  blouse,  —  a  big,  strong 
American  man  with  a  kind  face 
stood  looking  up  at  her.  He  wore 
a  blue  suit  and  brass  buttons,  and  on 
his  coat  gleamed  a  great  shining  star. 
While  he  gazed  upward  at  the  girl  a 
carriage  rattled  over  the  cobble-stones 
and  stopped  right  under  the  balcony. 

And  now  the  big  man  was  saying 
—  could  it  be  that  he  was  speaking 
to  her? — «  Hello,  little  one!  Would 
you  like  to  celebrate  Che  San 
Yet  ? "  She  knew  that  meant  thanks- 
giving, but  the  Chinese  Thanksgiving 
did  not  come  until  February,  and  she 
could  not  imagine  what  he  meant. 

He  resumed :  "  Come  with  me, 
you  poor  little  slave,  and  I  will  take 
you  to  a  good,  kind  home,  where 
they  will  never  beat  you,  and  you 
will  be  free." 

244 


The  Slave-GirTs  Thanksgiving 

Free  ?  She  could  not  take  in  the 
meaning  of  the  word.  She  could 
not  even  dream  what  it  must  be  to 
be  free.  "  Oh,  no !  I  velly  much 
'flaid  bad  spirit  catch  me;  I  no  can 
come ;  you  down  so  low,  and  I  up 
so  high." 

But  just  then  the  carriage  door 
opened,  and  a  woman's  sweet  face 
looked  out,  and  a  woman  held  out 
motherly  arms  of  love  toward  the 
high  balcony  and  its  lonely  occupant. 

And  old  Suey  Gong  still  slept. 

A  sweet  voice  called  up :  "  Come 
and  live  with  me,  dear;  I  will  always 
be  kind." 

Pao  Chu's  eyes  filled  with  tears. 
It  was  the  first  time  in  all  her  life 
that  any  one  had  ever  spoken  a  kind 
word  to  her.  Before  she  could  reply, 
the  big  policeman,  who  had  some 

245 


Little  Almond  Blossoms 

way  slipped  in  through  the  rear,  had 
taken  her  trembling  little  form  in 
his  strong  arms,  and  hurrying  down, 
placed  her  in  the  carriage,  where  she 
was  clasped  in  the  tender  arms  of 
Miss  Cameron,  Superintendent  of  the 
Chinese  Rescue  Mission. 

She  could  not  understand  yet  that 
she  was  free ;  but  when  she  awoke 
on  Thanksgiving  morning  and  saw 
all  the  happy  Chinese  girl  faces 
around  her,  and  at  the  bountiful 
Thanksgiving  table  was  made  to  un- 
derstand the  reason  of  it  all,  she  then 
realized  the  true  meaning  of  Thanks- 
giving, and  said :  "  It  would  neveh 
have  happened  if  I  had  not  played 
to  the  good  'Melican  God." 


246 


